Home Is Where the Hearth Is
by EmeraldShadowz101
Summary: Voldemort didn't know the powers he was messing with the night he attacked the Potters. Lily Potter was much more than she seemed. Freed of her temporary mortal body, she left behind a child with a very uncertain destiny. Taken to Camp Half Blood to be raised, he spent most of his childhood in New York. That was until circumstance drove him back to the country of his birth.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

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 _ **A/N:**_ _Welcome to our new story. This is actually the first co-wirtten work between_ _ **EmeraldGuardian7**_ _and_ _ **Shadowz101**_ _. We had been talking for the while and just couldn't get the idea for a Harry Potter & Percy Jackson crossover out of our head. This here is the prologue and the first chapter should be following soon. After that we aim to update bi-weekly. At the moment we do have several chapters stored up and ready to go but we are still writing. We hope you enjoy this and please leave us your thoughts in the reviews. _

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With a faint pop and a small twist in the fabric of reality, a tall cloaked figure appeared in the shadows of a small street. Taking a second to observe his surroundings, the figure stepped away from where he appeared and onto the pavement. It was dark out, the sun having set hours before and yet the neighbourhood was still alive with the laughter of children as they scurried around in all manner of strange costumes.

It would be a strange sight if it were not Halloween. To most, it is a holiday for children. The one day a year where you can dress up in funny costumes, decorate your house, eat lots of candy, and even traverse the dark streets long after you would normally be snug in your bed. To others, it means something much different. That's not to say it's an inaccurate description by any means but, just that many do not remember the darker more ancient connotations of this famous festival.

That being said, there are still many forces in the world aware of its true origins. The first people ever recorded to celebrate Halloween were the Celts. They called this day Samhain. To them, it marked the end of their summer and harvest seasons, leading into the cold depths of winter, but that wasn't all. It was also known as the day where the walls between our world and the afterlife were at their thinnest. The very festival they created was used as a primitive ritual to protect themselves from the inhuman monsters that go bump in the night. There's something ironic to be said that humanities answer to the threat of monsters was dawning the faces of those monsters themselves.

It wasn't just the closeness of the underworld that made Samhain special but also how magic itself seemed more dense. The realm of the gods also moved closer this night, not quite comparable to the Summer or Winter Solstices, but definitely closer than usual. That's what made the events that were about to happen this night so very important. Important enough to attract the attention of those very gods themselves.

The sudden fluttering of wings and a loud caw were heard by the strange figure that was now heading down the road he'd appeared on. The man, for he was a man, despite the many inhuman atrocities he'd committed, glanced upward at the noise, dismissing the sight of the large crow the moment he saw it. He knew many were superstitious about those birds and the supposed bad luck they brought, but he didn't buy into that nonsense. It was just a bird, nothing more. The great Lord Voldemort would not be cowed by something so lowly and insignificant as fear, for he was the only true immortal in this world. Continuing on his way, the dark wizard didn't notice how the large bird's beady eyes continued to track him.

"Nice costume Mister!" A small voice called up to the tall figure as he passed, causing him to freeze in place. Being as short as the child was, he had seen a glimpse under the Dark Lord's hood, assuming that his unnaturally pale skin and snakelike visage was an elaborate effect created by makeup.

He turned his red reptilian eyes on the young child, his hand twitching towards where his yew wand was stowed. He'd never liked children, even when he'd been one himself. Their crying in the orphanage had grated on his nerves even way back then. He had no reason to kill the child in front of him. In fact, he'd get no benefit from it at all, but he couldn't help but want to anyway. It would be so easy. Just the simple act of raising his wand and uttering two little words. A little flash of light and the child would be gone forever. What else could that be but the power of a god? One who controls life and death.

Despite what he wanted to do, he stilled his hand. He was on a mission, and couldn't afford the distraction that killing the child would bring. Even if the the chance that someone would catch on to what he'd done was slim, he couldn't risk it. Therefore, with a small feeling of disappointment, Voldemort moved on, leaving the child standing there without responding. Said child would soon run off to tell his mother about the rude man he'd spoken too. She'd her cluck her tongue with disapproval over the strangers rudeness, never realizing how close her child had come to dying that night.

Reaching the end of this block, Voldemort watched as the place he was looking for seemed to spring into existence before his eyes. If he'd stood in this exact same place even a week earlier, it would have been as if the cottage before him didn't even exist. He could have stood there for as long as he wanted, staring straight at the property, and yet he would never have been able to find the current home of the Potter family. Such was the power of the Fidelius Charm, but it also had a crippling weakness. The very weakness that plagues the very foundation of the human soul. For the Fidelius Charm was only as strong as the will of the person to whom the secret had been intrusted. This was the very reason that Voldemort scoffed at Dumbledore's ideas surrounding the supposed strength of love, for love was not enough to keep Peter Pettigrew from telling him what he wanted to know.

Pushing the small garden gate out of the way, he slowly swept up the path towards the front door. There was a peculiar feeling bubbling up inside him, and it took the dark wizard a moment to realize it was excitement. The Potters had been a thorn in his side for a while, and on top of that he was about to prove once and for all, prophecy or not, no one could stand against him.

The few passersby who had stopped to look at the strange robed man who appeared to be staring intently at the empty lot were surprised as he vanished from their perception. The ones that moved towards where he had been in confusion soon found themselves hurrying in the opposite direction, suddenly remembering a forgotten appointment, or that they'd left the stove on at home. None would remember the strange man's presence until much later when the soon to be infamous destroyed cottage made its appearance at the lane's end, none of it's neighbours having noticed it before.

Unknown to Voldemort, there was one being present that was not confused by what his actions had caused. The crow from before let out another loud caw and flapped it's midnight black wings, alighting from the telephone pole it had been perched on. Gliding down the street, the bird swooped into the same place that Voldemort had disappeared, entering the Potter's yard. Watching as the cloaked figure approached the front door, the crow settled onto a nearby tree branch to watch the coming confrontation.

Finally reaching the door, Voldemort stopped for a moment, looking forward to ridding himself of the prophecy once and for all. It was a shame he'd promise Severus that he'd leave the girl alive, but she would have her uses. Despite having nothing to offer with magical heritage like Lucius did, Severus truly was a genius potions master. Capturing this mudblood for him would only cement his loyalty.

Raising his wand, a cruel smirk on his face for what was about to happen, Voldemort blasted the door of it's hinges. He'd actually hit it so hard that it traveled several feet backwards before toppling over. A scream rang from inside the house causing him to nearly shiver with delight. He loved the absolute tangible fear people had in his presence. That best part was that single moment when they realized what had happened. That second when they realized he had ultimate power over them. That exact point in time when they realized that their god had come for them.

"It's him! Run Lily! Take Harry! I'll hold him off! Just take Harry and go!" A male voice called out in desperation. He would have applauded the fools bravery if he valued that sort of thing, but instead he just laughed. Laughed at the notion that this boy, barely a few years out of Hogwarts, thought he could slow him down.

"James!" A panicked female voice called, but he could tell she had followed her husband's instruction as the sound of quick footsteps receded up the stairs.

His amusement only grew when he realized that when James Potter came to confront him he wasn't even carrying a wand. He would've toyed with the man more, but he was already getting impatient to complete his objective.

"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of green light exited the tip of his yew wand and sped towards the young man in front of him, inspecting him in the chest. Just as simple as that, he fell like a puppet who'd had his strings cut. James Potter was dead.

Without breaking a step, Voldemort continued on, turning onto the staircase and beginning to ascend slowly. Getting that familiar little rush he got every time he took a life, his impatience to finish had dimmed. He was going to enjoy this, and he knew the longer he drew out his approach the more the mudblood above him would fall into the grips of terror. He had no fear of them escaping, their own wards and protections around the property being the ones that were trapping them here. How ironic.

Reaching the top landing, it was obvious to him where the mother and son were from the sounds of frantic movement and murmured consolations. Reaching the door, a flick of his wand had the lock clicking open. Placing his pale hand on the cool metal handle, he twisted and pushed on the door only to meet resistance. Pausing for only a half second, he waved his wand again, vanishing the door in it's entirety. There was a loud clatter as a wooden chair tipped and fell into his path. It seemed the girl had tried to barricade the door by muggle means. He scoffed as he vanished it as well.

Entering into the room, which he noted was in fact the baby's nursery, Lily Potter spun around to face him. He could see smudges in her makeup where a few tears seemed to have already fallen. She obviously already quite aware of her husband's fate, but the look of determination on her face as she put herself between him and his target took him aback. He was used to most people's resolve crumbling when they gazed upon him up close, not seeming to strengthen. Where anyone else might gain a measure of respect for their enemies courage in such a situation, that was not the case for Voldemort who only felt enraged that she dare look on him in such a manner.

That anger soon gave way to amusement again when he noticed she didn't have her wand on her either. A wand was a wizard's right, one of the many things that set them apart from the mere animals that were muggles. The Potter's deserved what was coming to them if they were so foolish to prance around even their own home without them.

"Step aside girl, and I may yet let you live to serve me," Voldemort announced grandly, spreading his arms open wide as if he were bestowing upon her a great gift.

"Please, not Harry. Anything but Harry," the red haired woman begged.

"Let it not be said that Lord Voldemort is not a merciful lord, but I do have my limits. Don't test me girl, stand out of the way." He injected a bit of scowl into his voice, but on the inside he was positively enthused. The uppity mudblood who had faced him down so surely was now groveling for his mercy.

"Anything but Harry!" She repeated. "Please! Take me instead. Kill me. Just leave Harry."

It didn't seem to him like she was going to change her mind to his disappointment. Forcing a mother to give up her child to save herself most likely would have broken her. It would have been entertaining to watch. That's when he got an idea. If he couldn't have his first choice, forcing her to watch as he finished off her son would be almost as good.

"I'm warning you girl. You are pushing my patience. If you give me your son now, I'll even make his death painless. Move out of the way and you shall live."

The woman shook her head vehemently, the whites of her eyes showing in her panic, "No! Kill me instead! Don't hurt my son. Don't hurt my Harry! Kill me, just let him go!"

At the end of her latest declaration, something in the air shifted. Voldemort didn't know what it was but it made him nervous. The whole place stunk of ancient magic and he did not like it. Seeing the woman still begging before him he no longer cared about what promises he'd made to his servant. She was the source of this feeling, he knew it, and thus he was not going to let her live.

"Avada Kedavra!" He spoke the fatal words for the second time that night. There was a flash of green light, and much like her husband, Lily Potter fell to the floor dead.

The problem was that feeling from before didn't die with her. If anything the feeling of this magic became even more dense. All of Voldemort's senses were screaming to him of danger, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. What could possibly pose a threat to him? One who had beaten death and ascended higher than humanity. He was a god and even the other wizards and witches were but mere insects before him.

He turned towards the crib and looked at the spawn of the last two people he had killed. The last Potter. Another ancient magical family about to be extinguished for good. It was time to show Dumbledore that his prophesied saviour meant nothing to him.

Feeling the familiar words already on the tip of his tongue, Voldemort spoke them for the third time, "Avada Kedavra!"

The room was lit up in emerald light as death sped towards Harry Potter.

The room exploded and all Voldemort felt was pain. Agonizing, ripping, tearing, pain that he'd only felt a few times before and then there was nothing. His body was gone, vaporized in the spell backlash. He was confused, disoriented, and the only thing he knew was that somehow he had been bested. He had to leave before Dumbledore arrived. And thus, the shade of the once mighty and powerful Lord Voldemort fled into the night.

From a nearby a tree, a familiar black crow watched as the dust settled. The wannabe dark wizard had prided himself on being the best in the world, and yet it seemed he hadn't even the slightest clue on the true powers of the world. Even a novice magic user who was taught properly knew the power of a question spoken thrice. The fool had sealed his own fate.

From inside the house the sound of a baby crying was heard echoing into the night. Everything had come to pass as it should. Her grandson was alive.

A loud rumbling split the air as a motorcycle descended from the sky. The rider a young man with wild black hair dismounting and hurrying into the house in a panic. His cries of despair were easy to hear even outside. A few minutes later he reached the young child. Digging him out of the rubble he scooped him up into his arms and navigated his way out of the half wrecked cottage.

Another new arrival, a man much too large to be completely human, with a big scruffy black beard intercepted the first man and they began a heated debate over the child. A few minutes later the larger man won out and the child was passed into his arms. The first man turned on the spot and disappeared with a loud crack. The large man climbed onto the first man's motorcycle with the child. Revving the engine loudly, it took off into the sky before vanishing in the distance.

The crow let out one more last caw. Things were progressing on track. Flapping its wings and taking to the air once again, the bird flew off into the distance.

* * *

Voldemort couldn't have been more wrong when he started considering himself a god. That title was reserved for beings far older than him, and much more powerful. Beings who had walked the earth before man was even old enough to speak. Before the first of our ancestors had even taken their first steps. Man may have inherited the earth but that was all it was, an inheritance. When the self proclaimed dark lord decided to murder the Potter family that night, little did he know who he would anger that night. He didn't know he had set in motion the very forces that would now work against him. The ones who held the true immortality that he so coveted.

High in the clouds in the great city of Olympus, what appeared to be a young girl sat at a large hearth. She wore a simple brown cloak as she stared at the fire, watching the flames dance, spitting ash into the air every now and again. It was the only sound in the room, as she was alone. To an outsider she looked like a normal girl though beautiful in an unpretentious way, with brown hair that framed her face in ringlets. Nothing special really in the end, although if you looked closely, her features looked perhaps a bit too perfect. That was until she looked at you. Her eyes were that of pure fire, flames licking out as if reaching towards your very soul with a somewhat superhuman quality.

Her name was Hestia. It was her job to guard the hearth. It was a job she had gladly taken for all of her existence, since the great war with her father that ended in him being scattered into the wind. She was a god, one of the 12 Olympians. She was far more powerful than any mere mortal man could ever hope to be. Even now, as she sat in front of the fire, parts of her essence were all over the globe, doing their duty as the goddess of home. She may not be worshipped much anymore but she had her duties and she took them very seriously.

She could be almost everywhere at once, though each time she split herself it diminished her individual power but she could snap back in anytime she wanted to.

Even among the Olympians she was a little odd for a god. She almost exclusively stayed in her childlike form, keeping the visage of someone non threatening, even if she was anything but. She said very little, often slinking into the background, observing the goings on of those around her. Due to this she had a more complete view of the world, and was perhaps the most 'human' of all the Olympians. Many of her brethren lacked empathy and often looked down on humanity, even the children they bore to a mortal parent. She foresaw this attitude would eventually come round to bite them but they wouldn't listen. They never listened.

Thinking that this would be like any other day, she almost didn't notice when she saw something white and misty drift through the air towards her. As luck would have it she was facing the door leading away from the throne room, and as the white mist seeped through the cracks of the closed door, she was almost taken by surprise. The air seemed to shimmer as it drew closer, taking on an almost liquid like quality. She recognized what it was, of course she did. It was a human soul. Not just any soul though. _This must mean…._

Before she could even finish that thought, the mist slammed into her condensing and forcing its way into her own mouth. It looked like she was choking on smoke, her eyes wide and glowing white, the fire in her eyes now turning into two miniature suns.

Inside her head many things were happening. Memories that were not hers but at the same time were flooded into her thoughts. She felt a second life slam into her mind like a tidal wave. It was a very short life, barely a blink of an eye in her overall immortal existence, but a separate life all the same. She remembered running around in a small house as a toddler, so innocent about the world. She picked up a flower from a garden and ran happily to show it to her mother who affectionately ruffled her hair. She remembered a happy childhood with loving parents and an older sister. She remembered the jealousy her sister would show every time her parents showed her more attention. She remembered days where unexplainable things would happen around her, and how scared she felt about them. She remembered how it felt when her sister called her a freak and glared at her from afar, treating her like she was diseased.

Then one day a young boy told her that she wasn't a freak. He told her instead that she was gifted and that she should be proud of what she could do. Then she got a letter and her life completely changed. A whole new world was now open to her. She was a witch, and she was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was then that she vowed to be the best witch she could be. She was determined. Her parents were so proud of her the day she got her letter and when a teacher came to collect her to take her to get her school things, she was practically bursting at the seams. Her sister grew even more venomous and as the years went on, the divide between them seem to grow more and more.

She remembered how annoying she found it every time a certain boy from school asked her out. She hated how he bullied one of the few friends she had, how he bullied many people under the guise of simple pranks. Even after she was betrayed by her childhood friend, she never truly forgave the other boy for how he had treated him before that. Though, as time went by she started to see the better parts of that boy, and saw the glimmer of something good in him. She notice how he slowly changed his ways, letting go of his bullying tendencies as he matured. Most important of all was when she learned just how far he would go for his friends. She fell in love. Oh she fell hard.

She remembered the war, and how a dark shadow had loomed over Hogwarts as a maniac called Voldemort began terrorising the magical community. Fear was constant, and every time she went home over the holidays she wondered if when she came back, her friends would still be there. Every christmas, every summer...more and more of her classmates were going home and not coming back. Sometimes she wondered if one day it would be her. Would she become just another statistic to a war she didn't even understand? For a man who talked so much about blood purity, he didn't seem to care much about who he killed.

She remembered leaving Hogwarts and joining Dumbledore's order, a militant group whose sole purpose was to fight Voldemort. She fought side by side with her boyfriend, and later husband, as they opposed the dark forces that threatened the entire country. For a few years that's what her life was, and although it was hard, she had her husband and she was content. Then life changed for her again.

She had a son.

The memories of how she had felt when she found out she was pregnant hit her so hard the very air around her seemed to catch fire. She gripped the hard stone floor as the feelings washed over her being. She remembered the elation she felt when she told her husband the news, and the tears that freely fell when he danced around the room like a loon.

The moment she held that newborn baby in her arms she felt complete, and she looked down at that tiny bundle silently vowing to protect him till her last breath. She had a family, and she loved them dearly.

Then the unthinkable happened. Albus Dumbledore visited them and told them of the prophecy. It had spoken of the one who was destined to wield the only power that could defeat the dark lord.

And apparently her son was a prime candidate.

And Voldemort knew it.

So they went into hiding. For a while this worked. They had a foolproof system and a strong Fidelius around the property, a strong magical charm that would make them invisible to all but those who were told the secret of their location. The secret was entrusted to one of their close friends, though not the one most would suspect. They did this in order to add an extra layer of protection in case their obvious choice in Secret Keeper was captured and tortured for the information. They would go to Order meetings like normal and try and lead a normal life, keeping at least one of them at home to look after Harry. At least for the first few months they did this. One night, she found she was very nearly captured and she barely managed to escape. For the next few months they both stayed at home, taking care of their 1 year old child like any normal parents would. They did their best to make sure that his innocence was maintained, and that in his young eyes, nothing was wrong.

Little did she know that their trust was severely misplaced. The secret had been told. They had been betrayed.

This is why Lily Potter died.

As memories of the last few hours assaulted her mind, Hestia gasped for breath, and the grief she felt was almost overpowering. She felt an overpowering sorrow as she experienced her husband's death for a second time. A sorrow for how she had never even gotten a chance to say goodbye. There was no time, she reasoned, but that didn't make her feel any better.

As the memories receded and she relived her own death, a dark pit formed in her stomach and her grief turned to anger. Who dare attack her son! The soul she had just reintegrated with herself was now truly one with her, and so she slowly raised herself from the floor, taking deep breaths as she went. How long has it been? She made a quick check. Nearly a whole day.

 _That long?_ She thought.

Physically she was fine, but emotionally she was feeling everything at once; anger, sadness, despair, sorrow, regret. Most of all she was feeling worry for her boy.

It was strange to think that a few minutes ago she didn't even know what a mothers love felt like. She was a virgin goddess after all, and had long since accepted that she would never have children, be they godly or mortal. Even being the most human of the gods, she still didn't completely understand them. It was why years ago she had decided to split away a part of herself and tie it to the mortal realm. She wanted to know what it felt like to be mortal. To be human. She had never expect it to be wrought with so many unknowns. So much pain, and yet so much joy.

With barely a thought, she searched out the soul of her son, tracking him to a location in Surrey, England. A location she dearly recognized. She drew her cloak over herself and raised its hood. Her eyes were back to their fiery coals except much more vibrant than usual. She travelled to the location her son's soul had been located and slowly walked up the pavement. She decided to appear a few streets away from him so she could get her emotions under control by the time she arrived. It wasn't like she wanted to accidentally set the neighbourhood ablaze if she couldn't control her temper. What was Dumbledore playing at sending her son here? Does he not know how badly he would be treated? At best his presence will be loathed and at worst... she didn't even want to think about it. It didn't matter. She would get him away from those people.

It was dark out, so she morphed her eyes to appear mortal. Although uncomfortable, she was successful. Instead of bright burning coals, they now just looked slightly amber, and you would have to be pretty close to notice even that. Every now and again she would hear a loud bang followed by some coloured lights. Many families were letting off fireworks to entertain the children, and celebrate the lead up to Guy Fawkes night. She snorted to herself. If only they knew the truth about Guy Fawkes.

She kept getting strange looks but she ignored them. Her final goal was the only thing she truly cared about in this moment. No doubt, concerned adults were wondering why what appeared to be a young child was walking around unsupervised on a cold November night.

It wasn't long before she arrived at her destination, and she was barely able to keep her anger in. _How dare they! In the middle of autumn... it's freezing!_ She thought frantically as she ran up to the front door of a particular house. At its foot was a small bundle wrapped in blankets with a note laid on top. She barely took notice of the note, quickly pocketing it before picking up the bundle and cupping it gently at her chest. Her heart swelled as she looked down upon her baby boy's face but she instantly frowned when she noticed the scar on his forehead, still slightly oozing blood.

She noticed with a start that she could sense Harry's divine energy. He was a demigod, and a powerful one at that. Somehow even as a mortal, she kept enough of herself within her to give this child the most wonderful of gifts. _That's good_ she thought _this will make healing you so much easier._ With a single thought she unlocked all of his godly abilities. It was a rarely known fact that demigods didn't just get their gifts naturally from their godly parent. They were chosen. At least most of them. Sure an Aphrodite child would be exceedingly beautiful or an Ares child would be an amazing warrior but things like charmspeak and elemental manipulation? Those gifts had to be given willingly. And so she gave her son everything she could. She knew he would need them later in life. As sad as that made her, you couldn't run from prophecy.

Turning back to the matter at hand, she spoke in soothing voice, "A beautiful boy like you shouldn't have such an ugly scar."

She placed a hand on the open wound. Channelling her divine energy through herself, a small lick of flame escaped her hands and jumped into the jagged lightning shaped cut. As the flames touched her boys skin, she could see the wound slowly closing. As the goddess of the hearth, fire had a healing effect on her children. They could not burn at all. As the fire was slowly absorbed into Harry's skin, she could feel something stirring.

At first she thought he was waking up. Oh how she longed to looked into those bright green eyes again and tell her son how much she loved him

What she didn't expect was something akin to black ink fall out the cut as she healed it, or the dark energy that seemed to pulsate from it. With a wave of her hand the energy burned up in the air, destroyed before it ever became a problem. _That felt like...surely he wasn't stupid enough to make THOSE_ she thought. It didn't matter, she rubbed her hand over his forehead once more, his skin now completely unblemished. She would normally be worried that he had still not awoken but she could sense that there was magic at work. It would most likely keep him asleep for the next few hours at least.

With her baby held close to her she took one last look at the home of her mortal sister before walking back down the path and away from that family for the last time.

"It's time to take you home" she whispered, and with that, in a flash of flame, the goddess of the hearth and her son were gone.

* * *

Halfway across the globe, another ancient entity settled down to do some paperwork. To any who would look at him, he appeared to be kind middle-aged man with thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows, intense brown eyes, and a scruffy beard that he seemed to favor in the winter months. Another trait that most would notice right away is that the man sat in a wheelchair. There was a good chance that none of those people who saw him would be able identify as one of the most famous figures from Greek mythology.

To those in the know, he wasn't even a man, but the great centaur Chiron, trainer of famous heroes like Hercules, Jason, and Achilles. The wheelchair he currently sat in was specially enchanted to both hide and contain the equestrian bottom half of his body for when he was in public. He also used it quite often in the big house, where he was currently located, since it made it easier to maneuver within tight spaces.

Chiron sighed tiredly, looking forward to retiring for the night. Only a fraction of their campers were present at the moment since a good number only came in the summer months, but they'd still managed to have a good Halloween celebration. To Chiron, it was just as much about trying to give back a little to his charges, many of whom had rough childhoods, as it was to give their offerings to the gods. He cared deeply for them all, and hated to see how rough life was on those born to a god and a mortal. It's the reason he'd devoted the many millennia of his life to training demigods, both to protect themselves and all the unaware mortals as well.

As he finished up his work for the night, the famous centaur couldn't help but wish that Mr. D would actually pick up some of the slack around camp. It wasn't like he was actually surprised that Dionysus, the god of grape-harvest, wine, madness, parties, ecstasy, and theater, didn't do much. He was only the camp director in name really, spending his time sitting in the big house to supposedly watch over all of the gods mortal children as a punishment for chasing after an off-limits wood nymph that his father, Zeus, was fond of himself. No one ever said that Chiron's half-brother couldn't be vindictive.

Putting his work away for the night, Chiron prepared to wheel himself to his quarters for the night only to stop in surprise at the sight before him. The small figure of a child was crouched in front of the burning fireplace, her back to him. While many would be confused by the sudden appearance of a young girl, he was not. He knew exactly who it was that he was looking at.

"My lady Hestia," he greeted. "To what to I owe the pleasure of your visit."

There was a beat of silence before the girl answered without turning, "Hello Chiron."

The ancient trainer of heroes waited a few more moments for her to say more but was surprised only to hear the continued crackling of the burning log. The silence was making him nervous. Hestia was known for being somewhat reclusive, not liking to take center stage like many of the other gods, but she was also known to be one of the most friendly and one of the most human. For her to just sit there in silence like that was unlike her.

"Is there anything I can do for you milady?" He ventured with caution. It was always good to tread carefully with even the most mild tempered of gods.

Again he was answered with a moment of silence, before the goddess slowly rose to her feet and turned towards him. The sight before him gave a sinking feeling in his stomach. She was holding a young child. From what he could see in the low light, it appeared to be a boy of about a year old.

"I need you to do something for me Chiron."

"Of course. Anything milady." His instincts were screaming at him that whatever was about to revealed was going to end up shaking Olympus to its core. He knew if he was smart that he'd stay out of it, but that was not an option here. One did not deny a request from a god, especially when they asked you in person.

"Thank you… brother." The face of the young girl smiled at him as she approached. "I need you to look after my son."

Chiron's breath caught in his throat. He had already begun to suspect but the confirmation was still staggering. He had been right about this shaking things up on Olympus. Hestia had sworn a vow of eternal maidenhood. The young boy he was looking at in the goddess' arms would be the first demigod son of Hestia in all of history.

"We don't usually have campers this young," Chiron ruminated, already trying to figure out how it would even work. A burning look from Hestia caused that train of thought to be dropped but, he did try one last thing. "What about the boy's father?"

A look of brief pain flashed over the goddess' childlike face, surprising the centaur, though it was quickly hidden, "he was murdered earlier tonight."

Chiron blanched, "Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm assuming that that's why you have brought him here?" Inside Chiron was again ruminating on how the children of the gods seemed to attract nothing but misery in pain in their lives.

She ignored the last question, continuing to meet his gaze without flinching. "Will you help me Chiron? Will you look after my son?"

He only hesitated for a second before nodding in acceptance. The goddess inclined her head back in thanks before turning her attention to her son. She leaned forward kiss his forehead gently before murmuring, "Mommy loves you Harry. Never forget that. Mommy will always love you."

As strange as it might be to see what appeared to be a child acting in such a manner, famous trainer of heroes found himself in awe. He'd never seen any of the gods be so open in their affection for their demigod children. He wished all his charges could experience this as too many ended up resenting their godly parent in the end.

Breaking out of his reverie, he held out his arms as the goddess passed him her son. The small black haired boy didn't even stir. "His name is Harry. Harry Potter," she said as she slowly backed away.

Chiron head jerked back up to follow Hestia's movement, somewhat worried she was going to leave with just that. "Is there anything else I should know?"

The goddess paused again in thought, "His father was a wizard and so is he."

Chiron's eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't unheard of for a demigod to also be a witch or wizard but it had been a while since it had happened, unless you counted demigod children of Hecate but they weren't quite the same. "I see."

"I know you don't often bother to teach your campers about the wizarding world since they rarely interact, but I'm sure you keep abreast of news from them as well."

He nodded in affirmative, "I do. When the children of your brothers were fighting at the front lines of the second world war, I know a wizard named Grindelwald was terrorizing the wizards from the shadows. I also know that something similar has sparked a civil war among the magicals in England these past few years as well. It seems like whether it is amongst the gods themselves, their children, witches and wizards, or even the everyday mortals, conflict seems to be inevitable."

Hestia didn't say anything for a moment before continuing, "If you really do keep as close a watch as you say, then there is some news that you will soon recognize in the wizarding community." She paused again for a second, "People will be coming for him, Chiron. Witches, wizards, monsters, other gods, they will all be coming for him. He is bound by prophecy and I need you to prepare him for his destiny. I need you protect him until he is ready to take care of himself. Can you do that?"

"I will milady." Chiron answered seriously before allowing his curiosity get the better of him. "What will you do about your brother? He will surely find out about Harry. You made a vow to him. We both know he can be quick to anger."

"I will deal with my brother when the time comes. That being said, no one can know about me. All will be revealed one day but to keep him safe, the other gods must remain ignorant of his parentage."

Looking like she was about to leave, Chiron couldn't help but blurt out, "But what about Harry himself? Are you just going to leave him unclaimed? Leave him always wondering?"

The look he received made him freeze on the spot and reminded him once again why it was not a good idea to get on the bad side of a god. Luckily for him her expression returned to neutral after a minute, "I will visit my son myself when it is time. He will not grow up ignorant of who he is, but I will not claim him publicly until certain events have unfolded. Now, make sure you keep your eye on the magical community as I said and some things should begin to make themselves clear soon."

Chiron nodded, beginning to feel curious about she meant. It was the second time she'd mentioned about watching the magicals. When it came to the gods, things were rarely a coincidence. He would do as she suggested.

"Before I go, you should know that I will be sending Harry's godfather this way soon. He won't be able to enter camp as he is a wizard but I think it will be good for my son to spend some time with him growing up. That being said, Harry will remain at camp year round. It is the only place safe for him at the moment."

"I will do as you request lady Hestia."

The goddess nodded, "I am counting on your Chiron. Keep my son safe."

In the blink of an eye she was gone causing Chiron to sigh. Dealing with gods, even those as good natured as Hestia could be tiring. Looking down at the still slumbering child in his arms, Chiron couldn't help but wonder what he'd gotten himself into.


	2. Chapter 1: Waking Up

**Chapter 1:** _ **Waking Up**_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _As promised, here is the first chapter of Home is Where the Hearth is. First of all, a big thank you to all those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed already in the first 24 hours. It means a lot to us. Please continue to leave us reviews and let us know what you guys think. We hope for chapters to come out every two weeks from now on._

 _Another important thing to mention is that the events of the Harry Potter world have been moved up to fit better with the Percy Jackson timeline. In this case, instead of being born in 1980, Harry is born the same year as Percy, 1993, just under a month before him. Everyone from Harry's parents generation have been shifted up through time as well to fit. The only Harry Potter canon events that have not shifted are things like Dumbledore's birth or the events of the new Fantastic Beasts movie. This is because they take place during the second world war, and moving them would cause too much of a problem. The only effect this actually has is that Dumbledore and people his age (like Grindelwald) are a few years older than canon in this fic, which doesn't really change anything._

 _Anyway, now on to the story!_

* * *

Harry gave one last mighty tug, finally managing to get the zipper all the way closed. Despite the inside being expanded, it was still a tight fit for Harry Potter, a 13-year-old student of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who being as unorganized as any teen his age, had just jumbled most of his belongings inside without any kind of strategy. Spinning around now that he was done he allowed himself to fall back on the bed with a huff.

"Are you done already?" A voice asked in exasperation.

Tensing his stomach, Harry rocked forward and sat back up on the side of the bed to meet the gaze of his roommate Mike Briar. The boy in question was a bit taller than Harry with short sandy coloured hair, a defined jawline, and an overall athletic physique. He wasn't quite as well toned as Harry, but he also didn't go through the same intense training that the messy raven-haired boy did.

Harry watched his friend struggle to get the lid of his bag shut, "Well maybe if you didn't just try and jam it all in, you'd have better luck."

Mike scoffed, "That's exactly what I just watched you do!"

"Oh really?" Harry asked in mock confusion. Walking over towards the other bed he pretended to inspect the bag, before continuing nonchalantly, "It must just be my natural talent then."

Something knocked into his shoulder causing him to stumble a few step. Regaining his balance he caught Mike's smirk. "Natural talent my ass. Aren't you supposed to be the Quidditch prodigy? How's that work when you can't stay stable on your own two feet?" He teased.

"I'm not on feet when I'm on a broom, genius! Plus, I thought you Canadians were supposed to be polite."

"Oh right, and we live in igloos and ride moose everywhere too," he retorted sarcastically.

"Well, you never know with those Canadians, eh?" Harry said with a cheesy grin, punching his friend in the arm.

"Watch it, Potter," he scowled, making a grab for him, but Harry easily dodged out of the way.

"As for your barb earlier, I'll have you know I have loads of natural talent, especially in Quidditch. I was the one who got on the reserve team in first year and became the starting seeker last year. You finally got on the team this year, right? That's impressive still… I guess." Harry smirked.

Harry ducked, causing a balled up pair of socks to fly over his head, "And you're a chaser too. Might want to work on that aim for next year as well."

Mike vaulted over the bed knocking his unfinished bag flying. "Get back here!"

Harry dodged out of the way once again. Turning back to taunt his friend for the second time, he was hit with another piece of laundry. Struggling to get the piece of fabric off his face, he didn't have much time to move before his friend came for him. Attempting to duck another grab, idly realizing the earlier pieces of fabric had in fact been one of his friend's shirts, Harry flailed. Mike had managed to get him into a headlock. Calling on some of his extensive combat training without thinking, he started to hook his foot behind his friend's and prepared to pull, undoubtedly causing the other boy to fall to the floor when they both heard a sound making them freeze.

Someone coughed loudly and quite distinctively from the doorway.

Looking up without changing positions, the two boys met the raised eyebrow of Professor Jones, the Charms Professor and Head of House for Thunderbird. "Having fun are we boys?"

Neither of them moved until finally, Harry spoke up, head still caught by his friend, "Just helping Mike pack his bag."

Their teacher's eyes trailed over the now scattering clothes and spilled bag lying sideways on the floor, before flicking over to Harry's on his bed.

"I see," he drawled before his lips turned up ever so slightly. "Well, make sure you both hurry up. Wand registration has already started and the train will be leaving shortly thereafter. If you don't want to be stuck heading down the mountain by foot, I'd get a move on."

"Of course, sir," Mike answered this time.

"Good," he turned away, heading down the hall before waving back at them over his shoulder, "Make sure to have a good summer boys, and stay out of trouble!"

The two of them didn't move right away, even after their professor had vanished from sight. Eventually, they both realized the position they were in and quickly let go.

"Truce?" Mike asked seriously, holding out his hand.

Harry shook it, "For now." They both grinned.

"You better come help me get this then if you want to be on time."

"Who said I was going to wait for you?" Harry asked as he had already begun to help grab stuff off the floor. It only took a few minutes for the last minute items to be jammed back in the bag and then Harry held the lid down with his body weight while Mike zipped it closed.

"Whew! Guess we're finally done then."

Harry took a last look around the room for the year. It looked strangely barren now that they were clearing it out. The four-poster beds were still there with all the amenities as well as the small nightstands and writing desks, but apart from that, it was empty. The only thing still giving it colour was the large Thunderbird tapestry hanging on one wall. Mike had liked to put up posters and stuff like that. It worked well the make the space feel more lived in but Harry usually just brought along a few pictures of his friends. That was enough for him.

"I guess so." Harry was a little confused on how to feel.

While he loved learning magic and almost everything that came with it, his true home resided back at camp… even if she was no longer there. It's why he pushed himself so hard, to honor her and her dream… Harry tried to push that out of his mind. He didn't want to be depressed today. It was his last day, and he'd be heading there soon enough, to see his other fellow campers… the ones still around.

The two boys grabbed their bags and left the room. Moving through the common room available to all Thunderbird students, the duo soon exited into the main hallways, heading towards the Entrance Hall. Mike remained mostly silent beside him seeming thoughtful about something. While unusual, it wasn't unheard of so Harry let him be.

The two had met during the first night of their first year after having been assigned as roommates. Having arrived at the school, Harry had felt both elated and terrified. He had grown up his whole life confined within the borders of Camp Half-Blood. He'd loved it there, it was his home, but he'd always wanted to get out more and see the real world. Coming to Ilvermorny had been his chance to do just that, as the wards around the school were enough to keep out most monsters that could sense his godly heritage.

The loud clamour of voices began to grow as Harry and his friend drew closer to the Entrance Hall. Turning the corner, they both slowed as they took in the now familiar sight of the congested entrance. Tables were set up in front of the big doors, with several of their professors sat behind. Long lines of students stretched from each of their professors back across the entirety of the hall.

"I can't believe they waste Aurors' time with this shit," Mike muttered, nodding towards the nondescript looking witches and wizards standing by the exits. "It's ridiculous."

"Well, you know how seriously MACUSA takes the International Statute of Secrecy."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't like it. They're sending Aurors to make sure a bunch of kids comply for Merlin's sake!" He exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure they only send the Aurors in Training for this," Harry answered.

"It doesn't matter!" He answered loudly drawing some confused looks while Harry tried to shush him. "The whole thing is just stupid to start with. My family has lived among no-majes in Toronto for years, and we've never even come close to a single incident."

"I agree but you've got to admit that there's a lot of wizards who struggle to blend in. I wouldn't trust all of our classmates with a wand while unsupervised in the summer."

"I heard a rumour that it's not like this over in Europe. Supposedly they're allowed to take their wands home in the summer, and even get to buy it outside of school," Mike said somewhat petulantly.

"Yes, but they don't get use them either."

"I-"

"Next," a voice called up loudly interrupting his friend.

"I guess I'll see you in a minute," Harry waved over his shoulder as he approached the desk.

"Wand please Mr. Potter," an older witch asked from behind the table.

"Of course professor," he answered, handing over the small smooth cylinder of wood to his transfiguration professor. She placed it in a small metallic contraption. The machine began to whir and click before finally slowing down to a stop. Taking a second Harry focused his mind on what he wanted to be seen, then with a subtle snap of his fingers down by his leg, he triggered it. His professor looked at the machine in confusion. Opening her mouth part way as if to say something, she suddenly froze. Blinking a few times she shook her head before continuing on.

"Eleven and three-quarter inches, English Oak, and… dear me… a thunderbird feather?" She shook her head. "That's an unusual wand core, but quite for your house. Is all of this correct?"

Harry nodded, "It is Professor."

"Very well. As you know, you can collect your wand on your return in September," stowing the focus in a box, she shut the lid, before grabbing a quill lying nearby. Dipping it in the inkwell, she was quick to scratch his details onto a label and then with a flick of her own wand, he watched it float over to a growing collection of similar boxes behind her. "Keeping our existence secret is of utmost importance, therefore even though you may not have your wand, make sure that no other magical items find their way into no-maj hands."

"Of course."

She handed him a small white card. Looking it over Harry thought it looked no different than a normal no-maj business card except it had a very familiar crest on the one side.

"The Magical Congress of the United States is implementing a new program this year. Keep this card on you at all times. If the worst should occur, and a breach of the Statute of Secrecy occurs, hold it in your hand and say the activation phrase located on the back." She instructed him firmly. "An Auror will be dispatched to your location immediately. If it is required, obliviators will be sent to the scene. You will, of course, receive a reprimand for such an occurrence but it will be much worse if the incident goes unreported. It goes without saying that penal action will be taken if incidents are reportedly falsely and MACUSA resources are wasted. Do you have any questions?"

Fingering the card before slipping it into his pocket, he shook his head, "No, ma'am."

"Off you go then."

With a last nod, Harry moved away from the table and towards the door. The Aurors tracked all the students that passed them with their eyes, but he had to stifle a chuckle when he a saw a few of them trying to puff up their chests as if to intimidate the students. These guys were definitely still in training.

Reaching the outside, Harry had to shield his eyes for a moment as they adjusted to the new light. Once he no longer needed to squint, and now that he was out of view of law enforcement, Harry patted his pocket to reassure himself that his wand was still there. It was difficult, seeing as how witches and wizards could see through the mist for the most part. Having Hecate's blessing of magic seeped into their very souls, it was only natural that they could see through it. That being said, they were a bit more vulnerable than the average demigod to being fooled by it when someone purposely manipulated against them. It could be overcome if they knew what they were looking for, but so far, no one had realized Harry had tricked them over the years.

His train of thought derailed a moment later when a big hand clapped down on his shoulder. Looking over he was met with Mike's smiling face, a complete one-eighty from a few minutes earlier, "What are you just standing here for? It's summer! We're free! No more reports due for two months!"

"You're looking chipper all of a sudden," Harry remarked, unable to keep his own mouth from turning up at his friend's attitude.

"What can I say? I've found a source of entertainment for the summer," he flourished a familiar looking business card in front Harry's face. "Fancy new system from MACUSA this year, eh? I saw you got stuck with Robinson so I figured she talked your ear off about it, brown-nosing MACUSA fangirl that she is."

Harry raised his eyebrow, "She does teach History of Magic and Wizarding Law. It makes sense that she interested in well… _the law_!"

Mike waved him off, "Trust me, she's obsessed. She'd streak naked through the halls if her beloved government wrote a law about it."

"I did not need that visual, she's like seventy!" Harry shuddered.

"You know witches and wizards age slower than no-majes. For all you know, she could be even older."

Harry shot him a scathing look, "You're not helping."

Mike just laughed, "As I was saying anyway. I'm sure Robinson gave you the whole spiel on how these things work?" He waved the card around again.

"She did."

"Well, I just can't help but wonder how these things will function north of the border. Ilvermorny may be the only major school in North America and I may have to follow MACUSA rules, like leaving my wand behind, while attending here, but I am under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Ministry of Magic during the summer. I'd just love MACUSA to try and send an Auror after me into their territories if I activate the card. Maybe I'll even be able to cause an international incident!"

"You're insane you know that," Harry just shook his head, "You're just going to get yourself in trouble."

"No, I'm going to relieve some boredom for once is what I'll do," he declared before glancing at Harry out of the corner of his eye, "Unless I don't need to because you'll actually agree to come visit me for once?"

"Mike…" Harry began.

"I could show you around Toronto," he said glancing up at the sky, "There's not much on the wizarding side, but the no-majes have lots to do. At the very least you could meet my family."

Harry could feel a frown slipping onto his face. There was also an elusive feeling of… something… twisting in his stomach. He could quite explain it. "I… I can't. I've got-"

"Camp. I know." They continued to walk in silence down the path. Looking over towards his friend tentatively, Harry could see the disappointment on his face.

"I'm sorry."

Mike sighed, looking back at Harry. "I know. It's fine." He forced a smile. "Whatever camp it is you're going to every summer… well, it better be a pretty badass summer camp!"

They both laughed, Harry even more so because his friend had no idea how right he was. "I promise I'll make it for a visit one day."

Mike didn't say anything, just looking at him as if he were evaluating him. It was a strangely serious expression to be on the face of a fourteen-year-old, and it made Harry feel a bit self-conscious. However, after a moment, Mike just nodded before looking away. "I guess I can tell my older sister that I wasn't lying about having a famous best friend."

Harry scowled, "I'm not famous!"

Mike laughed, making Harry realize he'd just been trying to wind him up. "En contraire, my friend. I still remember all the headlines from three years ago like they were yesterday. What did they say again? Oh right, 'HARRY POTTER TO ATTEND ILVERMORNY', 'BOY-WHO-LIVED TURNS HIS BACK ON BRITISH HERITAGE,' and even "HOGWARTS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR POTTER HEIR.' They were quite amusing."

"Not to me," he pouted. "Plus no one treats me like a celebrity anymore."

"True enough," his friend conceded. "The other students got over it pretty quick, I guess. It's still pretty amusing when one of the reporters from one of those gossip rags travels here. They come all the way across the ocean and try to sneak into the grounds. None of them have succeeded yet, but they keep on doing it. I don't know what they think they'll be able to write about, even if they could spy on you. I hate to say it Harry, but you're a pretty regular person. Just as boring as the rest of us, unless they want to write about what brand of cereal you ate for breakfast."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" He protested, pausing for a second before smiling. "My breakfast cereal is plenty exciting."

Mike shrugged, "Just calling it as I see it." He dodged out of the way of a swipe at his head from Harry. "If I've got to work on my aim for playing Chaser, you need to brush up on your skills too. I don't how you plan on catching a small little snitch if you can't even grab me."

Harry growled, thinking about how he could take his friend down a peg, before being distracted as a few other students hurried by. "We need to get going or we'll be late for the train."

Mike's mocking smile dropped away, as he looked down the path, "You're right. Let's keep moving."

The walked in silence for a few minutes before passing into momentary shadow. Mike shivered as he looked up at the extremely large twisting limbs of the famous snakewood tree in their school's courtyard. "I hate this thing," he muttered.

Harry glanced over, "It's one of the symbols of our school."

"I know! It still gives me the creeps though."

"You do know the story, right?"

"Of course I do. Who doesn't, it's all about the foundation of Ilvermorny and the planting of Salazar Slytherin's wand. He may have been one of the founders of Hogwarts, but he was a powerful wizard otherwise. He's well known all around the world."

"You remember when you got that bad stomach ache after screwing up that potion you made earlier this year, right?" Mike blinked at the sudden change in subject.

"Ya of course. You made that special tea of yours, and I felt better after."

Harry nodded, "What do you think I put in the tea?" He reached up and plucked one of the leaves off the highly magical plant above him.

Mike's face paled, "You didn't."

He shrugged, "It worked, didn't it?"

"B-b-but they say the core of Slytherin's wand was made of Basilisk fang. That's why, despite it only being a wand, it could take parseltongue commands. How did you know it wouldn't poison me?"

Harry sighed, "Don't be stupid. You know how the story goes. They tried to remove it after it started to grow, only to fail. It was later discovered that leaves had powerful healing properties. It's why the tree is one of the symbols of the school. Even a tree that grew from something so touched by darkness was still able to give back just a little bit of light. It's supposed to be a lesson to students to avoid looking at things in black and white."

"I said I know the story!" He glanced back over his shoulder, "But still, I wish I didn't ingest that thing. I've heard some of the older students say it's cursed."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Well next time you can keep your stomach ache then, or go to the Hospital Wing like everyone else, even if it means the embarrassment of admitting you screwed up a potion. I did research those leaves beforehand you know, I wouldn't just try them on you if I thought they would be harmful."

"I know," he muttered.

Sighing, Harry looked back over his shoulder at the tree. He could see why it unnerved some people. The long twisting branches and dark wood cast deep shadows across the ground even on the brightest of days. Even now, the wind brushed through the leaves sounded like hissing, though Harry had always heard them for the whispers that they were. There was a reason a lot of people avoided the tree.

However, behind it stood the majestic sight that was Ilvermorny in all its glory. The stone walls looked pristine and were well maintained, yet still hearkened back to earlier time. Harry didn't really want to call it a castle when to him it looked more like a giant manor house. He felt that the building could easily have been turned into some kind of mountaintop resort if it weren't a school.

With a final glance, Harry refocused on the path before them. They were approaching the large wrought iron gates, more students coming into view as they hurried to their destination. The entirety of the grounds were surrounded by a low stone wall. It wouldn't offer much in the way of physical protection but the rock was heavily enchanted and formed the basis for the wards guarding the school.

Passing through the gate, Harry shivered slightly as he felt the heavy weight of said wards lift from his shoulders. They were powerful and he'd found from his first day that he was able to feel them. There were so many protections that the very magic in the air almost felt more dense, which was one of the reasons why he'd always attributed the feeling to some kind of weight or pressure around him.

Seeing the path split before them, the two boys followed the crowd heading towards the left. The other path began down the mountainside but was soon obscured by a thick cloud-like mist. Ilvermorny was located on the tallest peak of Mount Greylock in the north-western corner of the state of Massachusetts. It would be just over a two and half hour drive for a no-maj to reach Boston from the base of the mountain. It was said that the cloud cover was enchanted to remain their constantly as to keep the school hidden from prying eyes.

Coming upon another structure, students were seen heading down a wide stone staircase and into the ground. They followed without comment, being used to the routine by now. He'd heard that students used to come and go by portkey, but that had later become an issue due to congestion and in the end, this new solution had come into practice. He was pretty sure they'd stolen the initial idea from the Hogwarts if he'd never been there, he'd heard lots of stories.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Harry looked around the busy underground platform. Rather than a scarlet steam engine that would carry students from London to northern Scotland, Harry took in the sight of a modern subway train preparing to leave. It was a little strange, but in the end, it worked out quite well for getting all the students to where they needed to go, especially in such a large geographic area.

Fighting through the crowds, Harry and Mike finally made it on board. His friend managed to claim a seat near the door while he remained standing seeing as how it wouldn't be a long ride for him.

"You don't know how lucky you are to have an early stop," Mike groused.

Harry smiled sympathetically, "How long do you think you'll be here?"

He shrugged, "I'm usually one of the last ones so probably a few hours."

Before he could respond, a loud chime sounded through the train cars, "Looks like we're almost ready to go."

Any stragglers still taking their time dragged their bags in quickly, A few minutes later, the chime sounded for the second time and the doors began sliding shut. Once everything was sealed, there was big lurch that sent a few of the standing students stumbling and the train began accelerating. It pulled away from the platform and into the darkness of the surrounding tunnel. Then with a bang, the whole car lurched again. A moment later, everyone on board could feel as the brakes were applied and the train entered the lit area of another station.

After coming to a complete stop, the doors opened with another ding. A few students pushed through the crowd and exited onto the hidden platform in Boston's South Station, more properly known as the Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center.

With that done, another warning sound played and the doors closed once again. Just like last time, the train accelerated into the dark tunnel only to lurch when another bang sounded and the train slowed down as it approached the next platform. He hadn't the faintest clue how it all worked. It was obvious that the train and all of its contents were jumping from one place to another almost like a form of strange apparition but luckily without the uncomfortable feeling usually associated with it. It was quite an accomplishment for the designer.

Seeing the brightness ahead, Harry made sure to get a good grip on his bag, "Look like this is my stop."

Mike smiled, "Have a good summer man." He held out his fist which Harry bumped with his free hand.

"You too. Don't get into too much trouble, okay?"

He smirked, "Well if you're not coming for a visit, I guess I'll to go with my original plan of government disruption to get my kicks."

Harry shook his head, as the train finally came to a stop again. "I'll send you an owl when I can."

"See you later, Harry."

Stepping through the door onto the concrete of the platform, Harry looked around for a moment before taking off in the direction he knew he needed to go. The platform itself was clean yet sparse, the walls covered in a nice dark coloured tile. Following a group of fellow students of varying ages, some of whom had already met up with their families on the platform, Harry pushed through a set of double doors and exited out into the noisy chaos that was Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

The doors behind him were warded to avoid no-maj attention but even on the off chance that they did break through the enchantment, there was always a magical staff member on duty to turn them away. To all appearances, it just looked like the entrance to a private lounge. The train itself, which would have already have left by that point, would continue hopping around like that to similar hidden platforms in major cities all across North America.

Seeing a familiar figure across the hall, Harry fought through the large crowd," Argus. It's good to see you."

Harry received a nod and a smile in return. If anyone were to look at Argus, all they'd see was a stereotypical tall blonde surfer type guy, but with a little bit of concentration, Harry could see through what the mist was hiding to reveal the hundred eyes that dotted his temporary escort's body.

It didn't take them long to get out of the station, Despite not being able to see anything, most of the mortals could tell there was something not quite normal about the two of them and thus tended to often give them a wide berth. Argus lead him to where the camp van was located and they were off soon after that. New York traffic being New York traffic, they didn't get out of Manhattan for a considerable amount of time, but eventually, they did get moving onto Long Island.

A long while later, the van finally pulled up and stopped at a familiar looking tree, but it was nowhere near how he remembered. The needles were nearly all brown and falling to the ground. The tree was looking particularly decrepit. He was confused, the pine tree had never looked this bad before. Reaching the top of half-blood hill, he surveyed the small valley before him. He was beyond happy to be home and as far as he could tell everything else appeared as normal but for some reason, something didn't feel right.

* * *

It was in the early hours of the next morning that he was proven correct. He had always had a kind of sixth sense for events like this. The first was when he received his Hogwarts letter. In his heart, he knew that if he had accepted the invitation, his destiny would have taken a completely different turn and his entire life would traveled down a different path. He couldn't tell where that path would have taken him but he just knew that it wasn't the right one for him.

Another one of those times was a few years earlier when Jennifer told him she wanted to go on a quest. She wouldn't tell him what it what it was, only that it was important and that she would be back soon. He begged her not to go, crying that he didn't want to lose more family, for that is what she had become for him. She had been the one to raise him at camp since he was a baby. She was the one who put her own life on hold for years until he was old enough to get by on his own. He had felt it then. When she had left. It had felt like a pit was opening up in the bottom of his stomach. Instinctively he had known she wasn't coming back. So when his sister in everything but name, Hannah, barged into his room, he found himself almost unsurprised. However, that still didn't mean he was happy about to be right.

"Harry get up! The tree...something has happened" she said hurriedly. Harry groaned for a second, pulling his duvet covers closer to him

"What?" Harry said, turning his face to meet his friends, blinking away sleep.

"The tree, Harry! The tree!" she said, starting to pace the room worriedly.

That brought him up short.

"What about the tree?" Harry asked, his awareness returning to him. "Oh no, please tell me it's alive!"

His heart clenched at that very thought of such a possibility. After his arrival the day before, he'd been informed on how the tree had been poisoned by Luke and how Clarisse, daughter of Ares, had been chosen to lead a quest to retrieve the only object that could help them out: the legendary Golden Fleece. He'd also found out that Percy Jackson, newly found son of Poseidon, had snuck out with Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Grover the Satyr and, a young cyclops named Tyson to pursue the Fleece as well.

If the tree had ended up dying, it would not have been a good situation for them. The camp relied on that tree to fuel its protections. Without it, they were all in serious danger. Years before, a small group of demigods had made their first trek to camp, being chased by a horde of monsters the whole way. They fought valiantly, despite their inexperience and lack of training, desperately trying to make it within the camp barriers but it just wasn't enough. In the end, the oldest of them, a girl called Thalia, the first demigod daughter of Zeus in decades, sacrificed herself so that her friends could make it.

Due to this great act of heroism, her father took pity on her and turned her into a beautiful pine tree. It's life then became intertwined with the magic of the very camp and ever since it had helped repel monsters from its borders and protect the camp. If that tree died then the camp would no longer be safe from the monsters that hunted them.

Coincidentally, Clarisse had arrived back to camp a few hours after he had with the famous object in question. Supposedly Percy had sent her to fly on ahead so they could get the Fleece back to camp in time. Harry, being honest, would admit that he didn't know the son of Poseidon that well, not having had a chance to interact with him too much. He knew many campers were envious of him, especially now that the young demigod had been on two quests when most had never even been on one, but for the most part, he seemed to be a good kid.

He was actually surprised that he'd give up the glory of completing the quest like that, even if it was the best option. Despite that, it didn't take Harry and his companions long to arrive themselves, actually making it back in time for dinner along with Chiron and a whole herd of very… interesting... members of his race. Harry wasn't going to let his mentor live down the existence that was the Party Ponies. Percy himself had looked a bit traumatized when he'd arrived.

In between all of that excitement, the Golden Fleece had been hung from the ailing pine tree and to all their combined awe, they'd watched as it had visibly healed before their eyes. They'd watched as colour came back to the brown needles, as new ones replaced those that had fallen, how the wilting branches began to straighten themselves back out, and how, at least to Harry's senses, the protections around the camp regained their strength.

This magical object was now one of the most important things in the camp and they all knew it would become a target. It was decided that campers would take shifts as guards around the tree until a time when alternate arrangements could be made. As much as Harry wasn't looking forward to his own turn, he knew how important it was that the Fleece was not stolen from them.

His friend kept pacing, not hearing his earlier question. Harry could see her panicking, her usual fun demeanor replaced by one of hysteria. He did the only thing he could.

"Hannah!" he said, grabbing hold of her wrists and turning her so she faced him. She bit down on her lower lip. "What about the tree?" he asked again

"It's alive... it's...it's better if I just show you" Hannah taking a deep breath before grabbing hold of Harry's hand and dragging him towards the door of his cabin.

"Hold on a sec let me just get a shirt," Harry said, pulling out of her grip for a moment and going to look for a clean top among his drawers.

Harry was unique among the campers in the fact that he was unclaimed but had his own cabin. He didn't have to stay with the Hermes campers like the other unclaimed kids. This wasn't some kind of preferential treatment though, this was because he was a baby when he arrived and it was quickly agreed that it would be unwise for such an overcrowded cabin to play host to such a young child. So he was given his own cabin along with an adult minder to make sure he was well cared for.

If one were to enter the cabin, the first thing they would notice would the huge basin in the middle, embers of the previous night's fire still glowing. This gave the room a rather warm feel, even when the fire was not lit. The walls were made of cobblestone, and the windows had a crossed pattern on them that would remind you of an old English cottage. To the left of the fire, as you walk in, is a four-poster bed, dark red sheets adorning it and, gold trim on the pillows. Medieval torches lit the walls, and there were various paintings fitted on each wall. To an outsider, they would simply be pretty pictures, made purely for the purposes of art. For Harry though, each of these pictures told a story, a part of his life that was hard to put into words. Sometimes he would just sit and stare at them, remembering days gone by.

On the other side of the room sat a large sofa, cushions covering its surface and the occasional magazine lying open on top. Next to the sofa, on the left, was a small lamp with a stained glass window sitting on top of a small footstall. When turned on, the light would dance off the pale blue ceiling, creating a kaleidoscope of colour. An empty mug sat next to it, stained slightly from the previous night's cocoa.

It wasn't much but it was his home and over the years he had done much to personalize it as his own. This was all he could do to honour his mother, even though in public he could never mention it. He suspected some people had guessed, but nobody said anything. Whether that was out of respect or fear he didn't care, but he was glad he was left relatively in peace. He didn't want to open that can of worms any time soon. Still, the way he personalized his cabin made me feel closer to his mother and he liked it.

Getting changed quickly, he bounded back to the entrance of his cabin where Hannah was waiting for him patiently. Her hysteria had sort of died down by that point, though he could tell from the look in her eyes she was worried. Harry put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and lead her out, making their way to the tree.

He noticed on the way down that the camp was unusually active. Campers from every cabin were making their way to where the tree sat. Normally at camp, there were very little people awake at this time of the morning. Most of them slept in for as long as they could get away with it. Especially at this time of the year.

All the while, Hannah was silent, not talking at all. This was odd, as she was usually a chatterbox. She would talk about anything and everything, sometimes to the point where he, Harry, would have to tell her to shut up just so he could get a word in. Not that he minded really of course. He loved her for that in fact. There was rarely a time that she wasn't smiling, lighting up the room with her infectious enthusiasm.

When Harry finally saw the tree, at first, he was confused. It looked fine. Better than fine actually. The golden fleece seemed to have done its job, clearing up the dead needles and bringing the great pine back to its majestic glory. A few campers were gathered around. Annabeth was among them, having guarded the Fleece overnight. Harry couldn't tell what she was looking at, but whatever it was, her face was deathly pale. More campers had begun to crowd around the tree, obstructing his view.

As he got closer, he noticed Percy and his friend Grover had arrived just behind him, Chiron with them. Harry wondered how they made it there so fast, seeing as he hadn't noticed them at all when he was on his way down, but surmised that the ancient centaur had probably given them a lift.

As Harry got closer, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. _No...this isn't possible...I must be...how is this possible_. He edged closer, giving Hannah a reassuring look. He wouldn't let her see he was scared.

"It healed the tree, and the poison was not the only thing it purged," Chiron said, his voice ragged. _No shit_ Harry thought, staring at the base of the tree. At its roots was Annabeth, tears in her eyes as she looked down at a second figure. A figure that by all rights should not be alive.

"It… she suddenly… there," Annabeth babbled, running towards Chiron, likely in shock. Her eyes were running with tears. If Harry was honest with himself, he'd never seen the daughter of Athena like this.

Harry started to edge closer to the figure on the floor. She was a girl, perhaps 14 or 15 years old, her hair was cropped short, a deep black that seemed to spike out in all directions. She was very athletic, her legs and arms toned but not bulky. He suspected she was a little taller than he was, although she was slightly older as well so that was understandable. Her clothes were a bit torn, but he could tell that they were somewhat goth, like black tattered jeans, a plain black shirt, and a leather jacket with a bunch of buttons from various rock bands, some he'd heard of, others he hadn't.

He could tell right away she was a very beautiful girl. He actually had to fight down a blush, trying to stay professional and keep his eyes on more innocent areas of her body. It wasn't easy with her clothes as torn as they were. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't help but note that she filled them out quite well despite obvious signs of malnourishment, however, that was something that could be dealt with easily enough.

"It's true… I can't believe it," Harry heard Grover say, panting from his run up the hill.

Harry walked closer to the girl, kneeling down as he checked her over. He touched his hand to her forehead. Her skin was ice cold but tingled strangely against his own upon contact.

"Someone get me some ambrosia!" he called, sitting down on a root next to her. He gently pulled her up to a sitting position, resting her head on his shoulder as he stared at the crowd around him. Nobody moved, staring at him in stunned silence. He could even see a small amount of fear.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people? We need to get her to the big house, now!" Harry said, anger spilling out. Why was everyone being so unresponsive? Someone's life was in danger.

As he spoke he felt the girl stir against his shoulder, making a small coughing noise as she opened her eyes for the first time in 6 years. They were such a startling electric blue of such an intensity that Harry nearly recoiled away but he managed to keep his gaze steady. He could see the confusion in those eyes and the worry. She was shivering.

"Who are you?" she said, her voice quivering.

"Harry Potter. You're safe don't worry," He said, giving her shoulder a light squeeze of reassurance.

"Strangest dream…" she mumbled.

"You're ok," Harry said softly.

"Dying-" she said, her eyes wide in panic.

"It's ok… you're fine," Harry reassured her again.

Her head began to move, taking in the scene around her. Many people were staring at her openly in amazement now, and Harry bit down on the urge to snap at them again. It wouldn't do to scare her by having an argument the moment she wakes up. He would definitely be having words with a few people later.

"Do you remember your name?" Harry asked, looking down at her in concern. This must be overwhelming for her. He already knew of course but he wanted to make sure that she knew it.

"I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus," she said as confidently as she could despite the situation. She was still leaning on Harry's side, obviously feeling weak.

"Will someone please help me get her up to the big house or are you all just going to stand there?" He shouted irritably, already forgetting his earlier resolve to keep his temper.

It was then he realized why everyone was so stock still, why everyone was so fearful. It was because of her father. This was yet another way for Kronos to try and control the prophecy and turn it to his advantage. All these people were worried about what it would mean now that there was another player on the board. It made Harry feel sick that so many people were so blinded by their fear that they couldn't see that a girl had just now got her life back. He bit his tongue for the moment, but inside he was seething. The prophecy was already dictating how people treated her and it had only been a few minutes.

"Annabeth, can you please help me get her to the big house?" Harry said again, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

She quickly snapped out of their stupor and walked over towards Harry. Together they helped get Thalia to her feet, Harry on the left, Annabeth on the right. The whispers didn't stop as they moved and nothing was really said between them. He could tell Thalia was weak and didn't seem to have the energy to talk. Chiron followed him to the house.

It took a while to get there, Thalia only able to move very slowly. When the group finally arrived, they quickly laid her down on one of the infirmary beds. Harry immediately went to the cupboard, looking for some ambrosia. Being one of the camps few medics, he was part of a very select group that was allowed to take and issue the nectar. It was literally the food of the gods, fit for only immortal mouths. For most it was very dangerous, as too much would burn up the user, killing them in one of the worst ways possible. However, demigods could ingest small quantities due to their heritage. Luckily, he had a basic understanding of various health remedies and instinctively knew how to treat most ailments. He suspected that skill somehow came from his mother. Or he may just be a natural healer. It was hard to tell. He was the only demigod his mother ever gave birth to as it was.

Argus gave Harry free reign to treat her as he came in. He must have been able to tell she would feel more comfortable with someone closer to her age. He kept close though, standing silently in the corner of the room in case Harry needed any help. He didn't know everything after all.

"Eat this," he said, giving Thalia a moderately sized block to eat.

Harry helped her sit up slightly in her bed as he handed her the small chunk to consume. She slowly put the divine food in her mouth and chewed. Instantly, more colour started flowing back into her body and she looked better. She was still pale, but not deathly so.

He used the time she was eating the ambrosia to go into another room and run her a glass of water in the next room. When he came back, he put a hand on her forehead again, he could tell her temperature was starting to return to more respectable levels. Harry gently placed it on the nightstand next to the bed and turned to face Thalia again.

"You feeling any better?" Harry asked.

"A little, thank you," she said with a smile, though it was a little could see a weariness in her eyes as she looked around the room. "A little young to be playing doctor aren't you?"

The last bit was said with a bit more of a genuine smirk. Harry could tell she was teasing him. That was good a good sign. It meant she had been most likely telling the truth.

"I don't know. You didn't seem to complain when I carried your lazy ass here," he said back with a grin.

"I think I like you," she said her grin growing wider. "You've got some spunk to you."

Thalia gave a small laugh after her statement and laid back on her pillow again. For a moment she lay down in silence, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

After a moment of silence, Harry added, "Sorry about the commotion outside. That can't have been the most pleasant way to wake up."

"What? Surrounded by strangers covered in dead leaves? No, it was fantastic! Let's do it again," she said in a sarcastic drawl.

"Well, it's certainly not how I'd want to wake up," Harry said with a small chuckle.

She took a long swig of her water, staring past him to where Annabeth was standing, still wide-eyed.

"Annabeth… wow! I almost didn't recognize you. Are you just going to stand there?" She asked.

It didn't even take a moment after she finished her sentence before a blonde missile rushed past him and grabbed her friend in a tight hug.

"I thought you were gone!" The daughter of Athena cried, bawling her eyes out into his patient's shirt.

She just stayed still, looking a bit uncomfortable at the contact but obviously unable to back away due to being confined to a bed. Harry looked at her in slight amusement but flinched at the glare that came his way when Thalia caught on to him, so he averted his eyes while Annabeth let her emotions out.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is telling you guys to run while I fought on the hill?" she asked her brows scrunched in confusion.

"You seriously don't remember?" Annabeth asked, pulling back and staring down at her friend.

"Would I be asking if I did?" Thalia bit out, Annabeth flinching back as if stung. A moment later, she mumbled a quiet, "Sorry."

"The short answer is you were turned into a tree," Harry said plainly.

"Harry!" Annabeth shouted in shock.

"What? Is there a way of sugarcoating that that doesn't sound completely ridiculous?"

"Well… have some tact!" Annabeth scolded.

"She's a big girl, she can handle it," Harry said waving away her concerns, though his lip curled up into a grin. He didn't even know her yet, but he got the sense from her, that Thalia would appreciate someone coddling her.

"I'm sorry I was a what?" Thalia said, looking at both of them with a dumbfounded expression

"That big pine thing you were found under? Well a few hours ago that was you and now it's well… not you." Harry offered, gesturing to Thalia. She still looked a bit shocked.

"... how?" she asked, the dumbfounded look not leaving her face.

"I'll let Annabeth take this one. While I was at camp when it happened, I was still in my cabin at the time."

"Well? I'm waiting," Thalia said, impatiently looking at her friend. Harry had a feeling she was actually a bit freaked out by what he'd said.

With only a moment's hesitation, Annabeth told the story. How her, Thalia and Luke had nearly made it to the camp borders before being ambushed by Hades' furies. How they were relentlessly attacked just before they got to the edge of the camp's protections and how Thalia had decided to stay behind so the others could live.

He had heard the story before but it was always great to hear it again. Except for this time, it had a happier ending, as the hero was right in front of him, alive and well. Thalia listened intently to the story, eyes widening in realization, clearly remembering bits and pieces of events. He could sometimes see a flash of pain in her eyes, the events of the day still hard to bring up. As Annabeth got close to the end, he could see Thalia's eyes were starting to close again. She may be healed but she was still weak.

"... and so Zeus turned you into a pine tree. For years the camps wards have been powered by the magic of your tree. But then last year… well, that's a completely different story," Annabeth finished, obviously wanting to avoid talking about Luke.

"Wow…" Thalia said in a shocked voice. "Wait how am I awake now then?" she asked in a tired voice.

"Get some sleep, Thalia. You can get the full story tomorrow, but right now you look like you are going to pass out. I'm sure Annabeth will be happy to fill you in on the past 6 years when you wake up," Harry said, looking pointedly at Annabeth.

"Yeah sure," she nodded with a friendly smile.

"Thank you… for you know..." Thalia said uncomfortably. Her blue eyes still closed as leaned on her one side.

"No problem. I'll go and get you a blanket. We can talk later when you've had some rest. Come on Annabeth," he said, placing his hand on the blonde girl's shoulder and guiding her out of the room with him

Harry had no idea that this meeting would change his life in so many ways.


	3. Chapter 2: Thalia Grace

**Chapter 2: _Thalia Grace_**

* * *

"So I guess I'll finally get to see what all the hype is about then, Jackson. I heard you're supposed to be quite good." Harry looked the slightly younger demigod over.

They actually appeared quite similar in some regards. They both had the same coloured hair, though Harry's was definitely much messier. While Harry had emerald green eyes, Percy's were more a bit more of a blue-green, closer to the colour of the sea. It was something he shouldn't have been surprised by, seeing as who his father was. Apart from all of that, they were also of a quite similar build, but from what he'd heard from others, they didn't favor the same fighting style. Harry hoped to use that to his advantage.

Percy shrugged, "I guess so." He pulled out a small golden pen that Harry already recognized. Not many campers were gifted magical items so when they did, it usually spread through the gossip vines pretty quickly. He knew this to be the sword Anaklusmos or rather Riptide.

Pulling the cap, he watched as the writing utensil transformed before his eyes into a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was actually quite impressive all in all. Looking down at his own custom sword, Harry couldn't help but feel a bit envious. He was proud of his blade, don't get him wrong. He'd forged it with his own two hands, something that had initially almost given the Hephaestus campers heart attacks, but it wasn't the same as something with a history like that. Percy's sword was literally a famous blade from Greek mythology. His just couldn't compete, but he pushed those thoughts aside for the moment as his sword would do.

He'd designed it himself after all since nothing from the camp armory had fit. He'd liked the speed and light weight of the traditional rapier, but he hadn't been happy with its flimsy design. Instead, he'd kept the overall length and shape but made sure to make the blade just a bit thicker.

"I also heard that you used to train with Luke before… well... you know…" Harry trailed off a bit awkwardly.

Percy's expression darkened, "I did."

He scratched his head, "Whatever else is said about him, he was the best swordsman we had at camp, and unless he was intentionally leading you wrong, you probably had a pretty good instructor."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he did," Percy muttered just loud enough for him to hear. From the look on the boy's face, Harry was pretty sure that he was less than happy about Luke being complimented in any way, and Harry agreed, he could just recognize talent for what it is.

"Well I guess we should get to it then," Harry said, twirling his slim Celestial Bronze blade with one hand. "Let's see what you're made of."

Percy got into a stance. So far it had seemed that Luke had at least taught him that correctly. "You keep talking like you've already won. I've never even seen you training before, plus I thought you were some kind of wizard or something?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow as the two began circling each other, "A wizard, huh?"

Percy faltered suddenly not looking as confident. "Annabeth was going on about you going to some kind of magic school," Percy muttered, his cheeks flushing slightly. "I guess she was teasing me."

"No no," Harry shook his head. "She was right. Just hadn't realized that had spread around so much."

The son of the sea god's eyes widened, "It's true?" Before his brow furrowed. "Is it a secret or something."

"Not really, but I don't spread it around much."

"Oh…"

Feeling like they'd talked enough, Harry gave a shout while lashing out with his sword, "En Garde!" He'd always wanted to say that.

Eyes widening in surprise, Percy began to backpedal away to avoid the point of the slim blade. He was successful, if only narrowly, as he batted it away at the last moment.

Seeing his opponent regain his balance, and his legs tense as if to launch an attack of his own, Harry jumped back to create space. It was a good thing he had, as Percy did just as he had expected a moment later. Holding himself still until the right moment, Harry stepped to the side leading the famous sword pass by inches from his face.

Percy looked surprised. Retracting his arm he tried another similar strike, only for Harry to step the opposite direction. Scowling, his opponent went for another thrust, putting much more strength behind it. Ducking slightly and tilting his head to the side, the sword once more passed him by, though this time, Harry hear the wind rush by his ear as the blade passed.

They say the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. So based on what he'd seen so far, Percy's fighting style seemed to be following those guidelines, whatever that meant about him he wasn't sure.

Taking advantage of his overextension, Harry lashed out with his own blade slicing through the fabric of Percy's jeans and opening a shallow cut on his leg. The boy in question hissed at the sudden pain, hopping back a few feet, looking down at his leg incredulously.

"You cut me!" He exclaimed.

"I did," Harry said looking down at his sword as if inspecting it.

"B-but-"

"As you should know, your true enemies won't go easy on you, and so when training neither will I," he counted. "I'm not breaking the rules either. I haven't maimed you. A wound like that will heal up in no time without a scar, especially after what I've heard of your powers."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "I guess you're right."

"Good, so do you want to continue or are you going to back out?" Harry knew he was goading him, but he wanted to see what the son of Poseidon was capable of. Thalia's arrival the night before had changed everything, but Percy was still a possible child of prophecy, just like he was bound in his own.

With a shouted exclamation, Percy charged at him again. It seemed like he had just as much of a temper as he'd heard. Like before, Harry remained stationary as he tracked his opponent's approach. He already knew what was going to happen, Percy was telegraphing quite strongly.

As the boy in question finally began to bring his sword down in a large overhead slash, Harry twirled out of the way avoiding the strike completely. Seeing that it hadn't worked, Percy tried to abort his action, but Harry brought his own blade down to mimic his opponent's action, forcing the already moving sword to follow it's original path, and causing Percy go stumble. Using that to his advantage, Harry hooked his foot under his younger campers leg and pulled, tripping him up, aided even more by the shove he gave to his back with his free hand.

Within moments the child of the sea god found himself eating a face full of dirt as he lay sprawled across the ground. Harry slowly circled around him, watching as he slowly clambered back to his feet groaning softly,

"I'm surprised," Harry said conversationally, "I'd heard you'd bested Ares in a duel. I can only speculate that he must have been holding back considerably if you are having trouble with me."

Regaining his stance, Harry finally saw a fire burning in the other boy's eye. Whatever happened next, he had a feeling it would be much more impressive. The anger and passion were there, but the fact that he wasn't charging already showed he was actually thinking things through this time. To his surprise, he began closing the distance between them quite slowly. It was more of a casual walk than anything and it set Harry's danger signals a ringing.

As the separation between them grew even smaller, Percy attacked again. Harry was surprised by his speed based on his earlier attacks, but he was still faster. Shifting into a better position he prepared to counter, only to be shocked as Riptide was not where he expected it to be, it was coming at him quickly from a completely different angle. Percy had feinted and he had been completely unprepared for it. With no other option, he brought his sword up to parry but staggered under the strength of Percy's strike. If he was using a regular rapier, he wouldn't have stood a chance, and that's why he had decided to create his own strengthened design. It still wasn't suited to a style where you parry blows in that manner but he did at least survive the encounter.

Stumbling back, Harry found himself now on the defensive as Percy continued to hound him across the ring. What he had heard had been correct, his fellow camper did have a lot of natural talent. Once he gained the experience to go along with that he would truly be a formidable foe. Fortunately for him, Percy didn't yet have that experience and Harry did.

Barely escaping the fourth heavy hit from Percy in a row, Harry used his superior speed to create some space between them once again. Keeping his stance loose, the two circled each other again. Percy seemed to be taking a play out of his book by waiting and watching. It would come down to who had the greater patience. Luckily, that seemed to still be him, as a minute later, the younger demigod was charging at the wizard again.

Moving with the grace his training had given him, Harry batted each swipe aside easily, moving his sword in the same direction as the attack causing each of the swings to miss and overreach. In a way, his technique was the exact opposite of parrying. Instead of stopping the blows with his blade, he pushing them ever so slightly so that they were redirected. In a way it allowed him to control his enemies sword, and if the growing look of frustration on Percy's face was any indication it was working.

Spinning around his blade Harry drew his sword forward again to pull him off balance and make him stumble forward while he moved behind him. Jabbing forward in a flurry fast strikes traditional of a normal rapier user, Harry landed numerous hits across the back of Percy's chestplate. It didn't do any damage to him, but he hadn't meant it to. Harry was just making a point. Despite the minor injury he'd given Percy earlier, he wasn't trying to hurt the boy.

With a grunt, Percy spun around, again faster than Harry expected, his sword traveling parallel to the ground. It caused the young wizard to lean back and pull off a move reminiscent of the Matrix movie just so he wasn't bisected. Springing back up, Harry decided to end things. With a precise jab of his sword, he hit Percy's hand while his arm was still retracting from his big swipe. The famous Greek sword was dropped with a loud yelp as Harry continued to flow seamlessly into a new movement that brought one leg up before it was slammed solidly into his opponent's chest, sending him skidding across the dirt on his back.

Marching up to his prone form, he held the tip of his sword at Percy's throat. The boy on the ground looked met Harry's gaze with resignation and a trace of disappointment.

"You did well," he said as he held out his hand.

Percy took it and allowed himself to be hoisted back to his feet as his brow furrowed, "But I lost."

"Yes, but the odds were stacked against you at the beginning. This is only your second year at camp and you haven't had much of a chance to train in that time." Harry explained, wiping away a few beads of sweat that had accumulated on his brow. He wasn't too out of breath, but Percy had pushed him there near the end. "You have loads of natural talent and despite your minuscule time training, the experience you've gained on two quests has helped a lot. It's the reason you're as far along as you are today. What you lack is more experience against human opponents instead of monsters."

"Uhh.. thanks," Percy said awkwardly, as he picked up his sword from the dirt.

"Just keep training, Percy." Harry smiled kindly. "You'll go far."

"Awww, ain't that sweet!" A voice called out from the side of the arena, making both boys jump. "If you're both done becoming bests buds, maybe I can take my turn now?"

Following the sound sarcastic drawl, Harry finally spotted a familiar face sitting on the wooden fence, her legs swinging. Thalia was looking much better than the night before. She was wearing the leather jacket they'd originally found her in, but Harry could see one of the orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts peeking out from underneath.

Harry couldn't help but grin. He didn't know her well yet, but from what he had seen so far, her sarcastic personality was quite amusing. "I didn't know you're doctor discharged you from the infirmary?" He said with faux confusion.

He could tell she had to suppress a snort, before her grin widened and she shrugged, "I may have snuck out."

"You have an opponent to fight then if you want the arena so bad?" If possible her grin grew even wider and became almost shark-like. Harry suddenly had the undeniable feeling he'd just messed up.

"I think I might have just found myself a volunteer." Jumping down to land on the ground, she approached Harry.

To his confusion, she reached into her one pocket and pulled out a small mace canister. That confusion died a moment later when the object in question extended out in a long celestial bronze spear. Shrugging her other arm, a silver charm bracelet flashed in the sun before suddenly it changed.

For a moment, all Harry felt was fear. All consuming fear. It took a few moments, for him to wrestle control of his own mind, and it was only then that he realized he'd taken a few steps back without realizing it. Fighting to keep his gaze steady, Harry finally saw the round shield that now adorned Thalia's other arm. The biggest shock was the large imprint of what could nothing else but the head of Medusa the Gorgon. Harry knew exactly what it was he was looking at. This was the famous shield Aegis. Harry was starting to get annoyed by everyone having these famous magical items.

"So first you sneak out, and now you're going to fight your doctor as well? What an unruly patient," Harry teased.

"Never did like going to the doctor much," she said before looking over at Percy who was still standing there. "So your dad's old Kep Head is he?"

Harry had to stifle a chuckle as he saw Percy's eyes widen to the size of saucers. It took him a moment to get over his shock, "And you're dad's… Zeus."

Thalia shrugged, "As much as I may wish otherwise, I'm stuck with Thunder-brains as my dear old daddy-o."

Thunder boomed loudly in the distance, even though the sky was clear and blue. Thalia's response was flip off the sky, which only seemed to make the second boom of thunder even louder, but she didn't even seem to notice.

For the first time, Harry was feeling a bit unnerved. He'd spent his whole life trying to stay under Zeus' radar, both for his own safety and his mother's. To see Thalia so casually insult him, made him want to start running in the opposite direction even more than her shield ever could.

"Anyway, I'd get moving if I were you Water Boy." Thalia continued. "The big kids are going to play now."

The boy, only a month his junior, seemed to swell with indignation, but upon looking at Harry and thinking about their last match, he deflated slightly and began to stomp off, fists clenched.

"He and Annabeth are pretty close, you know?" He said. "You probably don't want to strain your relationship with him this early."

"Really?" She looked a little surprised but brushed it off a moment later. "Ah well, whatever. I was just joking around. He's going to need thicker skin if he starts spending time around me."

Harry shook his head in amusement, "You ready to spar then?" he said, bringing his blade into a guarded position. Thalia unzipped her jacket, throwing it to one side, revealing the camp t-shirt he had noticed before. It was very hard for him not to stare. Her body was that of a perfect athlete, just coming into her prime. She was definitely very attractive, and the way the orange shirt hugged her developing curves was nailing that fact home. Harry could see her lip curling up in amusement.

"You done staring? Or are you going to start swooning?" she taunted, causing him to blush slightly in embarrassment.

Before he could formulate a response she was upon him. He barely raised his sword in time to parry the blow, gritting his teeth as the vibration traveled up his blade and into his arm. Luckily, her spear couldn't land hits as heavily as Percy's sword. Taking a step back he evaded the next strike easily, the spear passing harmlessly over his shoulder. Thalia brought her spear back again, keeping her shield steady in front of her.

She looked at him appraisingly for a second, trying to get the measure of him. Harry did the same, spinning his sword in a salute like motion, keeping his off hand behind his back. When she struck again he moved his body swiftly to one side, keeping his feet firmly planted. He quickly evaded the next three attacks, moving only his body for the first two before finally taking a step back in the last.

Her attacks were relentless, and he couldn't seem to get any strikes in himself. The spear she was carrying had too long a reach and because of her shield, he couldn't get close either. He'd just be beaten back again. He couldn't keep evading hits though or he would get tired, and then he would really be in trouble.

She kept her attacks coming, striking lightning fast. Harry danced away from each hit. Left, right, left, left again, right, jump. He was quick but she was picking up the pace as well. He could see the frustration on her face but he knew she would outlast him if this bout continued the way it was heading.

It was then he decided he needed to change the rules of the engagement.

He moved gracefully around the arena, keeping his distance from his opponent. Occasionally he would parry a hit but only when he had to. She could see Thalia getting more and more frustrated. The smile on her face from earlier was being replaced by intense concentration, and as time went on that look became one of anger.

He parried left, moving the spear away from him but before he could capitalize on that, Thalia moved her shield to cover the gap left behind. Thalia then swung her spear in an arc, causing Harry to duck down slightly, letting the spear pass so close to his head he could hear the air whistle. She then thrust forward again, and he stepped slightly inside getting closer to Thalia's body. Thalia quickly beat him back with her shield though and Harry fell down to the floor slightly winded. He sensed rather than saw the incoming strike and rolled out of the way.

"Attack me, Harry! I'm not made of glass you stupid boy," she snarled, swinging her spear more wildly.

She struck with a lunge which nearly grazed his chin. He wasn't worried because this was exactly what he was waiting for. In a split second he had stepped inside the strike and with as much strength as he could muster, parried the spear as hard as he could. The spear flew out of her hand with such force that it impaled itself in a nearby tree trunk.

Looking enraged by this, Thalia thrust her shield in Harry's face, knocking him a few feet away. Harry brought his hands to his face slightly, a small amount of blood coming away from his nose where the shield had hit. Rather than dwell on it though, he waited for her to approach. When she was close enough he kicked out with his legs, wrapping them around her ankles and causing her to fall down. Wasting no time, he brought his sword down to her neck, effectively ending the match.

"I know," he said, smirking in victory.

"I wouldn't be so smug" she said back, her earlier frustration giving way to a slight grin. Feeling something sharp digging into his side, he looked down only to Thalia holding a dagger his ribs.

"When did you get a dagger?" Harry whined. He was so close to winning. "Cheater" he muttered.

"All's fair in love and war. Call it a draw?" she said, removing her dagger and putting it in what I could see was a small holster on her belt.

"Fine," he grumbled. "It's a draw."

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement," she smirked.

"You fight well," he finally admitted despite her teasing. "Who taught you?"

"People," she said noncommittally, the warmth in her expression seeming to vanish momentarily. She began squirming slightly underneath him after that, "You mind getting off me? I know you must be enjoying this."

It was at this moment he realized what position he was in and looked away in embarrassment. He quickly disentangled himself so he was no longer straddling her and tried to not focus on what it felt like to have her so close to him, her short raven hair tickling his face as he got up.

"Oh is little Harry embarrassed?" she teased.

"Shut up," Harry said, reaching down and helping Thalia to her feet. The fact her shirt was torn slightly did nothing to help curb said embarrassment.

Still seeming much more amused than he would have liked, she grabbed her jacket again, "Don't worry. I'll cover up so you can focus on something else other than my good looks."

Harry scowled as she did what she'd just said. "I said shut up."

Thalia just laughed, "It really is a good thing my clothes turned back with me last night or I would've flashed everyone. I don't think you would've been able to focus enough to treat me."

Harry stuttered for a second, his mind unwillingly conjuring up an image of the scenario she'd imagined. It was a lot more alluring than he would have liked, but before he could get too far with that, he was saved by an approaching figure, "Thalia!"

They both turned towards the voice and watched as a familiar blonde girl approached. "There you are!" She continued, "You can't just up and leave the infirmary like that. We still don't know if what happened to you will have any lasting effects. I was really worried. Please don't sneak out! Chiron wants to talk to you now anyway."

Thalia had looked like she wanted to retort at first, but at the obvious worry of her friend, she had begun to look a little guilty. He didn't know her that well but it surprised him to see her back down to someone like that.

"I'm so-"

"It's ok I was watching her," Harry interjected without thinking.

"What?" Both girls heads whipped towards him.

"Well, I was the one who checked her over last night. She didn't sneak out, she just wanted some fresh air and I agreed."

"And you thought sparring was a good idea?" Annabeth didn't look very happy with him, but he shrugged it off. He'd known the girl for years but they weren't particularly close. They weren't enemies either though.

"Like I said, I was watching her." He repeated. "If anything happened, I would be here to deal with it." Thalia sent him a grateful look.

"Even still…" the daughter of Athena began before seeming to decide that whatever she wanted to say wasn't worth the effort. "Anyway, as I said, Chiron wants to see you."

Thalia sighed, "I guess I can go talk to him."

"It's ok Thalia, I can finish beating you another time."

Her grin turned feral once again, "As if. You already agreed it was a tie. Next time I won't be going easy on you either."

"We'll see," he replied a smirk of his own.

"I guess I'll see you later than Harry," Thalia said.

"What? No silly nickname for me?" He asked with a mock pout. "You must not like me as much as… what did you call Percy again… oh right, Water Boy."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed at her friend, and Thalia sent him a betrayed look to which he just smiled in response, which she matched a moment later, "Maybe next time."

Harry waved as they left, Annabeth only nodding somewhat stiffly. It seemed she was still annoyed that he'd sparred with Thalia. As he watched them both walk towards the Big House, Harry couldn't figure out why he felt so disappointed she'd left already.

* * *

The next morning Harry walked across the camp towards the dining hall. It was another gorgeous day, something he wasn't quite sure why he was surprised by anymore. He had been living there his whole life and he knew the protections around camp kept the sky clear of clouds unless Mr. D or any of the other gods wished it otherwise. It was probably because of spending the whole year at Ilvermorny. It was funny really, going from his school atop the mountain, where the enchantments that kept it hidden by cloud cover usually meant that they were under cloudy skies themselves, to his camp here on Long Island, where the enchantments assured them cloudless days.

Heading uphill, the dining area came into view. It was a pretty impressive sight if you hadn't seen it before and probably the building that looked the closest to what most people thought of when you started talking about the Greek gods. The whole area was framed by great big columns with large torches affixed to their sides and bathtub sized brazier sat in the middle of the floor. There were no walls around them or ceiling above them, another reason for why he was so thankful for the perpetual good weather, and through the back pillars, they all had a beautiful view looking over the water.

Stepping inside, he looked over the many white and purple clothed tables set out for the children of each god. Since he was technically still unclaimed, Harry usually ate with the Hermes kids. They weren't a bad bunch, but one learned quickly to keep their eyes on their belongings. They tended to have a bad case of sticky fingers. Moving in that direction he was surprised to hear his name.

"Harry!" Looking around he spotted Thalia sitting alone at a table near the front. He gave her a quick wave, expecting that she was just saying hi, but she began beckoning for him to come over. He hesitated for a split second before shrugging and crossing the hall.

"Good Morning Thalia," he greeted.

She answered simply, "Hey." Before taking a bite of her breakfast. A little confused, Harry just stood there awkwardly.

She glanced up a moment later, giving him a strange look as she chewed motioning with her hand towards the opposite bench. Realizing what she wanted, he froze.

"We're not allowed to sit at other's gods' tables," he explained hurriedly.

She raised one her eyebrows before finally swallowing. "That's the lamest rule ever."

Harry laughed nervously, "Yeah, it is pretty annoying."

"Sit down then," she said. "I don't care about any rules like that."

"I want to, but…" he trailed off glancing quickly towards the sky.

"What are you scared of my dear old dad?" She asked somewhat scathingly.

"I'd prefer not to be smited by the King of Olympus today, thank you very much," Harry replied back testily.

She snorted, "It's fine. Just do what I do." Like the day before she raised both her hands and gave the sky the middle finger.

"Miss Grace!" Chiron exclaimed loudly in shock as he cantered over towards them amidst gasps from other campers looking scandalized.

"Morning Chiron," she replied cheerfully.

"Miss Gra… Thalia. Can I inquire as to what you were doing?" He asked somewhat wearily.

"It's simple really," she replied. "I was just telling Lord Zeus that he can take his stupid rule about where campers have to sit and shove it up his-"

"THALIA!" He thundered as real thunder rumbled in the distance again. Hearing that, the ancient centaur looked to the sky and seemed to be praying. It wouldn't surprise Harry, he was pretty sure Chiron was mentally begging his half-brother not to blow them all off the face of the earth for Thalia's insult. Seeing as how they were all still there and hadn't been charred by the master bolt, Chiron turned back towards the two of them, "Thalia, you can't just.. please don't… I…" He sighed, "Nothing I say is going to change anything is it?"

"Nope," she replied just as cheerfully again.

Chiron sighed, looking as if he'd just aged a few decades before their eyes. "Regretfully it is, in fact, a rule that campers have to sit at their own tables."

Thalia looked at Chiron consideringly before turning her head to look Harry straight in the eye, "Harry, sit down."

He froze in place, his own eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. Chiron was several thousand years old and a famous mythological figure yet Harry still felt more scared of the raven-haired teen in front of him.

"Thalia…" Chiron whispered weakly again.

"I am not sitting at this table alone until daddy-o decides to go knock up another mortal and make me a sibling, so either someone can sit at my father's table where I invite them or I'll go intrude on another god's table without being invited."

Chiron's eyes widened once again and he looked up towards where Mr. D was sitting as if hoping for some kind of divine answer to his problems. The god of wine was sitting there looking completely unconcerned with his surroundings as he swished a cup of Diet Cola around his goblet with distaste. Shaking his head Chiron turned back towards the two of them looking resigned. It was only because of where he was standing that Harry thought he caught a quick amused grin pass over the god's face. It was a first for their grumpy Camp Director, who usually seemed to be in a perpetual state of hangover, and Harry wasn't even sure he'd seen it properly or not.

"It appears the option that will cause the least amount of problems will be allowing you to sit here, Harry." He turned his gaze solely on Thalia now. "Please try not make things this difficult in the future."

He trotted away as Thalia looked to Harry, "You sitting down then?"

Harry hesitated only for a second, still nervous about putting himself in Zeus' crosshairs before deciding to go for it and sitting down. He tensed for a moment, waiting to see if he was about to be struck down but seeing he was still alive he relaxed.

"Oh relax, if he was going to kill you he would've done it already. You're safe."

Harry shot her a nasty glare, "No thanks to you."

She waved his concerns away. "No matter how angry he might get, I don't think he'd risk killing off this whole generation of demigods, which is what would happen if he tried to target just one of us in here."

"Great, then he'll kill me after eating my last meal," he said sarcastically.

"Don't be a wuss. At least you're getting a last meal," she stuck out her tongue at him.

Harry couldn't help laughing. She'd looked sort of cute doing that. "I will say, I thought you were going to give Chiron a heart attack for a moment."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Well if they weren't trying to enforce stupid ass rules, I wouldn't cause any issues."

"Why do I feel like things are going to be a lot more interesting around here with you around?" He asked with exasperation.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" She said with a wicked grin. "And the reason you think that way is because you know I've got mad style."

"What?" He asked laughing again.

"You'll see," she waved him off and they fell into silence for a minute to let them both eat. "So what table did I pull you away from anyway?"

Harry paused, "I'm eating at the Hermes table usually."

"You're a Hermes kid?" She said looking at him strangely. Her head cocked to the side as if she were trying to figure out some kind of tough puzzle.

"Uhhh… no actually." Harry coughed, feeling awkward. "I'm unclaimed."

"Oh…" was her response. He looked back down at his plate. "That sucks."

Harry's head whipped up in surprise at her blunt statement. She patted his arm a few times giving him a sympathetic look before going back to her food as if nothing had ever happened. Most people were awkward with people who weren't claimed by their godly parent, but Thalia's blunt summation of the situation was actually quite refreshing. He somehow just knew that her expression hadn't been for show either. She did seem to understand how it would feel to go unclaimed. It both left a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest and made him feel guilty for misleading her at the same time. It was true he hadn't been officially claimed, but he knew exactly who his mother was and why she couldn't reveal their relation publicly.

Spending the next few minutes in thought about his new friends as he ate, he literally jumped when she started calling across the hall again. "Annabeth!" She waved her hand wildly. In the background, at the high table, Harry could see Chiron facepalming.

Looking over his shoulder he saw the blonde in question heading towards them, Percy was trailing slowly behind her. She looked at Harry questioningly but didn't say anything.

"Good morning," Annabeth greeted them.

"Morning Annie," Thalia said.

The daughter of Athena scowled, "Don't call me that!"

Thalia pouted, "But I used to call you that when you were young."

"Yes, but we're basically the same age now so you can't call me that anymore."

"Nice logic there Annie, but I don't think so." she grinned. "Why are you just standing there. Sit down, have some breakfast."

That brought Annabeth up short, "What? I can't. It's against th-"

"It's fine I took care of it. You can sit."

"What do you mean?"

"You might as well just sit down," Harry jumped in. "You won't get in any trouble. There's no way Chiron's going to make an issue of it now."

The girl sat without any more preamble, but that didn't mean she let up on her friend, "Thalia Grace, what did you do?"

As the two girls started to talk, Harry finished eating and looked around the immediate area, noticing that sometime in the last few minutes that Percy had wandered over to the adjacent table, Poseidon's table. He was just about to dig into what appeared to be a plate of blue pancakes. It was a strange sight to see in the morn- oh dear gods! Was that blue coloured juice as well? What was wrong with this kid? Everyone already knew he was the son of Poseidon. He didn't need to broadcast it. Harry shook his head.

Thalia seemed to notice Percy as well because when there was a break in her conversation with Annabeth she twisted around to face the boy in question, "You don't have to sit over there on your own, you know, fish face." Percy who had looked up at the sound of her voice scowled at the name. "You can join us if you want. I don't bite."

Percy eyes the table wearily, "Thanks but… I... your father doesn't really like me much, so I'd rather not risk it."

Thalia's eyes lit up, "Really?" She climbed to her feet walked over snatched his plate up with one hand and grabbed his arm with the other. "We'll definitely end up getting along then."

A thoroughly bewildered son of Poseidon sat at the Zeus table a moment later beside Harry and across from the two girls.

"So what's with all the blue food?" Thalia asked once they were settled in, making Annabeth roll her eyes. Percy mumbled something in response which none of them could hear. "What was that?"

"I said, my mom has always made my food like this," he repeated, his face flushing red.

"I guess you are Kelp Head's son, so it's not that surprising, though it is sort of childish. Not that I'm judging!"

"Shut Up... Pinecone Face!" Percy shouted, making Harry facepalm this time. What was with all these stupid nicknames? He needed to break them all of that bad habit.

"What… did you just call me?" Thalia growled. Sensing the impending danger, Harry dove for cover.

* * *

A little while later, after the majority of campers had dispersed for their daily tasks, Harry and Thalia were some of the last ones left in the dining hall. They'd all somehow survived her wrath over her new nickname, but based on Percy's smirk, Harry had a feeling it would be sticking around for awhile, not that he planned on risking his own safety over something so silly. Annabeth and Percy had both left already themselves.

"You don't have something you need to go off and do like everyone else?" Thalia asked.

"What? Tired of my presence already?" He teased.

Her serious expression turned up again. It seemed she was enjoying their banter as much as he was surprised to find he was. "Oh no, I just wanted to make sure you weren't neglecting your duties while you got overwhelmed, basking in my glorious presence."

Harry chuckled, "No, I haven't been neglecting my duties. I have a lighter schedule than most campers since I'm technically always on call to help out in the infirmary."

"Just like the other night then?"

"Yep."

"Well, if you're free already then, would mind showing me around camp?" She asked. "I only got the brief overview the other day from that shitty introductory video that looks like it hasn't been updated in a few decades. It was still on VHS!"

Harry winced, "I've had to see kids sitting through that thing for years. Supposedly the filming of that thing went so badly that Mr. D won't let them make a new one anymore."

Having finished eating a little while earlier, Harry finally stood, scooping up his plate. Seeing his actions, Thalia mirrored him. Moving towards the center of the hall, he stood before the large burning brazier. As the heat it gave off washed over him, he turned his thoughts towards his mother. Scraping the remnant of his meal into the flames he went to turn away only come face to face with Thalia who was looking at him curiously.

"What are you doing? I've seen a bunch of people doing the same thing."

"Oh," Harry blinked in surprise. "The campers usually burn scraps of food as offerings to the gods… to their parents."

"Who do you," she cut herself off looking awkward. "Never mind."

He had a pretty good idea of what she was going to ask, "It's ok. You can ask."

"Right… so who do you… uhh… make offerings to?"

"I just keep the idea of my parents in my head and hope they will be able to claim me soon," Harry smiled sadly. He had used these lines on people for years but this was one of the first times that his expression wasn't fake but sad because he had to keep lying.

Moving out after that, Harry began to lead Thalia around the camp, but didn't make it far before he was hearing his name being called again, "Harry!"

Looking around, he saw a familiar red-haired girl running towards him. Hannah Whelan, the girl who'd woke him the other night to take him to Thalia's Pine Tree, was a demigod two years his junior. Arriving at camp several years earlier, she'd had difficulty getting adjusted to his new life. Unclaimed, even to this day, she was still one of the many guest residents of the Hermes cabin. Seeing her initial discomfort, he'd done his best to help her settle in, and over time she'd become like an unofficial little sister to him.

He let out a small 'oof' when she slammed into him to give him a hug. She was only a few inches shorter than him, thus he had to turn his head slightly to the side to avoid getting a mouthful of her red hair.

"Hey, Hannah." He said, "What's going on."

Pulling back she looked up at him with her bright blue eyes, "Where were you? You didn't sit with me like normal at breakfast."

Feeling a bit guilty, Harry scratched the back of his head, "Oh yeah. I was there but was sitting with Thalia." He indicated towards the raven-haired girl beside him.

Turning around, Hannah looked at the other girl, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh! You're the girl that came out of the tree!"

Eyes widening Harry looked for her reaction but was happy to see Thalia laugh it off, "That I am. It's nice to meet you, Hannah."

"It's nice to meet you too!" She chirped before looking over at Harry again, "How'd you get to sit at the cabin 1 table? I thought it was a rule you had to sit at your own table?"

"Oh… well… Thalia talked to Chiron and… well… an exception was made," that was the understatement of the century but Harry did want to let Hannah know that.

"Does that mean you won't be eating with me anymore?" She asked beseechingly, her lip sticking out in a pout.

"No!" Harry said, beginning the panic. He could never deal with her pout. "Of course I'll-"

"Why don't you come join us at table 1 from now on?" Thalia intervened.

Hannah turned her wide shining eyes to the other girl, "Really? Can I come eat with you guys? I don't have to be stuck sitting beside the Stoll brothers anymore and deal with all their stupid pranks?"

"You sure can," Thalia ruffled the girl's hair. Shrugging it off she only pouted for a moment before her ear to ear grin came back full force. Harry was already silently apologizing to Chiron in his head for another new person being added to their rapidly growing table.

"Where are you supposed to be right now?" Harry asked as he realized the time.

Eyes going wide, her head whipping around frantically, Hannah exclaimed, "Oh no! I'm already late for archery again!"

"Well, you best be off then," he suggested.

Nodding her head, she gave him another quick hug before running off calling a quick goodbye over her shoulder.

"That was nice of you," Harry commented, looking back to Thalia.

She shrugged, "She's a cute kid." Harry just raised his eyebrow causing her to look defensive. "What? I know I can be a little rude sometimes… that doesn't mean I can't be nice when I want to as well."

"No! Really?" Harry said sarcastically. "Next thing I know you'll be wearing nothing but pink while talking about unicorns and rainbows." He waved his hands through the air as if tracing an imaginary arch.

"Shut up!" She scowled. "Why don't you just start the stupid tour."

Harry smiled, sensing victory in this bout, "As you wish."

Continuing in the same direction he had originally been moving, Harry pointed out the canoe lake from in front of the dining hall, then he took her for a walk by the strawberry fields, explaining how they sold the fruit for profit as well as used the business as a front for the property when dealing with mortals, next he showed her the forge, and armory, waving to the Hephaestus campers as they did so. After that, he showed her the amphitheater, the lava equipped rock climbing wall, the volleyball court, the pegasus stables from afar, and even the rock pile known as Zeus' fist. She'd been quite amused to learn that campers a few years earlier had taken to naming it the 'Poop Pile,' something Chiron had squashed quickly

With all of that done, Harry took Thalia to the circle of cabins last. "I know you've been up in the big house the last two nights, but I did hear Chiron last night that he was going to have you moved into your cabin today, so I thought I'd show you the way."

"Let me take one guess," she said. "I'm going to be staying there right?" She pointed towards one of the cabins on the end of the big horseshoe shape. It looked like a white marble box, with heavy, white columns in the front. It also had polished bronze doors that shimmered like a hologram of striking lightning bolts. The dome-shaped ceiling was visibly decorated with a moving mosaic of a cloudy sky and even more lightning.

Harry sighed, "Good guess."

The two of them trudged over and Thalia was quick to push open the door. Stopping with it halfway open, she turned back to look at Harry had stopped at the perimeter. "Are you not coming in? There isn't another stupid rule about the cabins too is there?"

"Ah, no there isn't, but…" he hesitated. "You know what? Let's just go for it." And he strode in as well.

Thalia let the door fall closed behind them, "See, you're already starting to see things my way."

The interior of the cabin wasn't actually that different than he expected. It was more white marble, more gold, more statues of eagles, and there was even a really big, really intimidating statue of Zeus himself in the center of the room.

"I'm supposed to stay in here?" She asked incredulously. Following her gaze around the room, he saw the problem. There was no furniture.

"I'll talk to Chiron. We should have a spare cot lying around somewhere, but we'll get you a sleeping bag at the very least for now."

She shook her head, "Nice accommodations."

He grimaced feeling slightly bad as he thought about his own accommodations, "I'm sure you'll settle in eventually." Thunder rumbled throughout the room, an illusion of lightning playing out across the ceiling.

"That will be fun sleeping to," she sighed. "Let's get out of here. I'm going to want to spend the least amount of time possible in here."

Feeling like Marble-Zeus' eyes were drilling into him, Harry followed Thalia out. Crossing the circle of cabins, she pointed towards number 11. "So, what's it like living with Herme's kids?"

"Crowded," Harry answered, "but I don't actually stay with them."

She turned towards him looking confused, "I thought-"

"I know," he said. "I'm considered a member of cabin 11 for most camp activities, but I… have my own small cabin."

Thalia's mouth dropped open, "How'd you score that?"

Harry didn't answer for a minute, kicking his shoe into the dirt a few times, "You have to understand Thalia, I'm the camper who's been here the longest."

"What do you mean."

Harry sighed, "I was dropped off here to Chiron when I was only a year old. I've literally been here the longest, even if I'm not the oldest one here."

Thalia's eyes widened, "Why-"

"How about I show you my place, and I'll explain there?" He cut her off, already heading in that direction. Thalia began following. "Anyway, when I was dropped off, I was the youngest one here. Sometimes the demigods that arrive can be pretty young but I was still a baby. Because of my age, they got one of the older campers to help take care of me. Jen-" He paused for a second, looking pained. "She basically raised me. Realizing that that Cabin 11 wouldn't be the best place for us, he had another small cabin built. They never really took it away, so I'm still there."

Rounding the main circle of cabins, his little home came into view. It obviously couldn't sit in the main circle since it wasn't currently officially affiliated with any gods. Reaching the door, he entered and held it behind for Thalia. Letting her look around for a moment he plopped down on the large sofa, shifting away some of the magazines that still lay there. Not many of them were his, most coming from Hannah when she came over to hang out.

After Thalia took everything in, he was surprised to see stand there sort of awkwardly. She didn't seem like one to get uncomfortable easily. "You can sit down if you want."

"Thanks," she plopped down on the other side of the couch as well.

"So I'm sure you have some questions," he said.

Thalia hesitated for a moment before diving in, "How did you get to camp at that age? There's no way you got here yourself at 1 years-old."

"What? You don't think baby-me could fight my way through monsters to get here?" Her response was a deadpan stare that was clearly saying 'get real!' "Anyway, I'm not actually sure." Harry licked his lips nervously. "I think it was my parent. Whoever they are, I think they were the ones who dropped me off here. Chiron found me in the Big House."

"Oh…" Thalia leaned back on the couch, letting her head fall back so that she was staring up at the ceiling. She remained like that for a moment before suddenly sitting up again to look at him. "Are you year-round camper then? Annabeth was telling me all about how that works… wait, do you actually even know who your mortal parent is then?"

"To answer you're first question, I was a year-round camper up until I turned 11, now I go to a boarding school for the rest of the year, and my answer to your second question is complicated. You see, apart from being a demigod, I am also a wizard. I-"

Thalia's laughter cut him off, "What like Gandalf?"

Harry let a wry grin cross his lips, "No, I mean like those to receive the blessing of Hecate."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused.

"Well, as you'd probably assume, demigod children of Hecate are usually born with a strong ability to manipulate magic, but they are also not the only ones. Millennia ago, she also blessed a large selection of mortals she had chosen as worthy of the gift of magic. It has been passed down by family since then and even pops up in new family lines when there is a child born she deems worthy of her gift."

"Really? You can use magic?" She asked, an excited gleam in her eyes.

"I can, and you probably can too, to an extent," he explained. "All demigods, due to their only partially mortal nature, are connected to magic, though without the blessing of Hecate, what your abilities will be quite limited."

"Oh…" she looked a bit downtrodden at that but the excited gleam was soon back. "Can you show me something?"

Harry hesitated for a second before giving in at her hopeful look. MACUSA didn't bother with the expensive procedure of setting up monitors on people's wands since technically they were all supposed to be locked up at Ilvermorny for the summer. They wouldn't be able to sense any magic through the camp protections anyway.

"Sure," Pulling out his wand, he summoned one of the magazines that fallen on the ground from him sitting down into his hand. Tossing it over to Thalia, he told her to, "rip a page out."

Quirking an eyebrow he motioned for her to place it on the cushion between them, which she did, but she continued to look at the magazine she was holding, her grin widening, "Teen Vogue huh?"

Seeing what she was holding, Harry felt his own cheeks heat up, "I pick it up for Hannah when I can. She doesn't get a chance to leave camp like I do."

"Sure, Gandalf. Whatever you say," Harry's eye twitched at the nickname. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret safe."

He cleared his throat loudly, "Anyways…" Tapping his wand on the ripped page, with his desired shape in mind, they both watched as it folded itself up into an origami bird. Harry enjoyed as her awe turned to an expression of even greater shock, as the small paper bird flapped its wings and took to the air, flying around the cabin. After it made a few passes over their heads, Thalia finally snatched it out of the ar, looking down as it struggled to free itself. A wave of his wand had it become motionless again.

"This is so cool!"

Harry smiled, "It's actually a pretty advanced charm. I'm not sure where I'll ever use it, but I had to look it up in the library. It doesn't seem to be taught in school as a part of the curriculum."

"Wait!" She said. "That school you were talking about earlier, it's for wizards?"

"Yeah," he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I didn't really explain that. Just like there is Camp Halfblood for demigods and Olympus itself for the gods themselves, there is also a hidden wizarding world from the mortals as well. Witches and Wizards go to one of many schools around the world usually between the ages of 11 and 17. Each country has their own magical government too."

"How many wizards are there then?"

Harry paused, "I think there's about 19 million witches and wizards alive right now."

"Really?" She said shocked. "That many? Do demigods not know about them?"

"Well it's not really a secret, but no, most demigods tend not to know, mostly because they don't really ever interact," he explained. "The gods know all about them obviously but not usually the other way around. Most wizards don't know about the gods at all with only some witches and wizards that still believe in the old myths and legends, but even fewer are the ones who know the Greek gods exist for a certainty."

"But what about you?" She asked. "You said you're both a demigod and a wizard."

"Yes, I am, and it happens from time to time. One of the gods has a child with a witch or wizard or even more rare with a regular mortal and they are still born with the gift. Wizard's call those without magic no-majs, by the way. Anyway, Chiron said the last one was a witch and demigod who went to camp about a decade before I arrived here, so over 20 years ago. The campers in that 10-year gap never really learned about the wizarding world, but a lot of our current campers do because of me."

"Ok… but back to the school part. What about monsters? Won't they come after you during the year?"

"There are protections around the school called wards. It's sort of like the borders around the camp. Well, not really… the wards are human-made while the protections around camp were made by the gods, but they serve the same purpose in the end. It allows me to attend school pretty much normally."

Thalia looked surprised for a second before an intense look of longing passed over her face, "Must be nice." She muttered.

"It is," Harry said. "Trust me, I know how lucky I am. Sometimes, out there, it feels like we are always being hunted." Little did she know he was speaking of much more than the monsters that sought all children of the gods.

Thalia sighed, "So what does all this you told me have to do with you coming camp when you were 1 years-old like I originally asked?"

"I guess it's been a bit of a long story, huh," He smiled. "Well, during the years leading up to my birth there was this dark lord gaining power in England, which is where I was originally from, and-"

"Dark Lord?" She interrupted to ask.

"Oh… think of him as like a wizard terrorist." Harry explained. "My family ended up getting on his hit list. He ended up supposedly come to my house and murdering my parents. I was delivered here to camp after that. Both of my parents were supposedly mortals with the ability to use magic, so obviously one of them was not quite they seemed."

Thalia looked at him speculatively, "Your godly parent must have spent a lot of time with you before all of this than to give that impression. It's quite unusual for a god. I don't think they are supposed to be that involved in mortal lives." Harry knew the answer to what she was speculating but just shrugged like he wasn't sure.

Seeing the time, he started to realize how long their conversation had actually gone on for, "Looks like I might be getting time for lunch. Want to head back over to the dining hall?"

Nodding her head, she stood. Before he joined her he noticed the origami bird he'd charmed sitting on the couch still. Tapping it again with his wand, the two of them watched as it unfolded itself and returned to a flat sheet of paper without creases. Casting a repairing charm, the paper than rejoined the original magazine seamlessly.

"It seems you're pretty useful to keep around," she said picking up the magazine again.

"I try my best."

"I see even after your demonstration, you made sure to return your favorite magazine back to pristine condition," she teased.

Growling, Harry flicked his wand, making it burst into flames in her hands. She quickly dropped it, and they both watched it turn to ash on the floor. Another wave of his wand vanished the remnants. "There. Happy?"

She shrugged, "You said it was Hannah's right? You're the one who has to tell her you burned her magazine." She turned towards the door. "You coming?"

Harry just sat there with his eyes wide. What had he done? He could already imagine the coming wrath of the girl he thought of as his little sister.

* * *

Pretty soon, it was that time of day. The weekly game of Capture the Flag. As usual, during this time, the camp was buzzing with activity, the many teenagers that called this place home armouring up and sharpening weapons. The air was thick with the sound of scraping metal, and groups started to form as more and more and more people got ready.

These were perhaps the most anticipated events that took place regularly at Camp Halfblood, and it never disappointed. Capture the Flag was where every demigod got the chance to test their skills and really show what they were made of. Not everyone was lucky enough to be selected for a quest after all.

The teams were congregating on either side of the pavilion, waving banners in the air and generally making a racket. One team was led by Percy, as in his short time at camp, he had amassed a surprisingly high level of respect among the other demigods, though much of that respect was born from his deeds on the two quests he'd been a part of. On his team was the Athena and Apollo cabins, creating an interesting balance of demigods. They stood together, appearing to discuss their plan of action. While it was Percy that led the group, it was often Annabeth that came up with the plans. Still, he was a natural born leader, and he listened to those under his command. They also had the Hermes cabin, the largest cabin at camp. This would make it a very tough game.

Harry lead the other team, which was an oddity seeing as he was technically unclaimed. Nobody could argue however that he wasn't perhaps the greatest fighter in the camp, surpassing even the master swordsman Luke Castellan in his ability. One on one maybe they were an even match, but against multiple opponents, Harry had the superior skill by far. Not only that but his leadership qualities were second to none. His team had most everyone else, although most of his strength came from the Ares cabin. Strong and fierce fighters, they made up the bulk of his team's muscle. The Dionysus, Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabin had also allied themselves with him for the time being, each cabin trading favors in order to gain better allegiances.

After about twenty minutes, Chiron cleared his throat and did the usual pre-game speech.

"I'm sure most of you already know the rules, but for those that don't, the creek is the boundary line. There will be no killing or maiming. I'm sure Argus, Harry, or the Cabin 7 here don't particularly want to have to stitch you back together if they can help it," he said, giving Harry a small grin which he returned.

"The banner must be clearly displayed, with no more than two guards for its home base. We don't condone teams camping out by their home flag. All magical items are allowed and I will, as usual, be battlefield medic and referee. Now is everyone ready?" he asked, looking pointedly at both teams.

With muttered affirmatives, he then gestured to a table, on which weapons suddenly appeared.

"Then arm up," he finished, gesturing to the pile of weapons. With that, he walked away, and let the campers to suit themselves up.

Harry stood to one side, already wearing all his gear. As the team leader, he decided to suit himself up earlier and make sure everyone on his team knew what they were doing. He took the time to oversee his team choosing their weapons, sometimes making a comment if he felt someone was making the wrong choice.

After a few minutes, he saw Thalia struggling with some clasps on her armour. He felt for her. Being a new camper, she hadn't had time to get used to armor yet since she certainly hadn't been using it on the run beforehand. She also hadn't had a chance to get herself some properly fitted either and thus had to make do with whatever spare they had. It was a shame but something that would easily be rectified with time. For now, she just had to deal with it.

She had just finished tightening a clasp on her chest when she realised her shoulder guards were still loose. Deciding to take pity on her, Harry walked over to where she was standing

"Need some help with that?" He offered.

A frown passed her face that looked kind of cute in his opinion, but he soon pushed that thought out of his mind all together lest she see his smile. For a few seconds it looked like she would refuse, but then she shrugged her shoulder and let Harry help tighten her armour. If he were honest with himself it was a terrible fit.

"Looking forward to the game?" Harry asked while bending over to tighten her leg guards.

"Of course. Who wouldn't? Can't wait to jam this thing right up Percy's a-"

"Whoa! Whoa! What's your problem with Percy? He's a good kid… I think. I don't really have much to do with him but Annabeth seems to like him well enough and she's usually a good judge of character."

"I don't dislike him really... just call it a friendly rivalry," Thalia offered.

"Doesn't sound friendly," Harry countered.

"I'm a daughter of Zeus, he's a son of Poseidon. No matter which way you cut it there's gonna be a rivalry, Gandalf."

"I really wish you wouldn't keep calling me that. He doesn't even use a wand… and I don't have a beard," Harry said frustratedly. He really hoped this nickname of hers didn't stick. Or even worse, others started using it. He shivered at the mere thought

"Have you even read Lord Of The Rings?" Thalia said incredulously.

"Why watch a film about magic when you're living it," Harry smiled back.

"There's a film?!" She exclaimed. At this Harry couldn't help but openly laugh.

He'd forgotten that she was a pine tree for the time the movies came out. By the sounds of it, she was something of a fan. He filed that fact about Lord Of The Rings away and made a silent promise to himself to buy the LOTR trilogy and invite Thalia to his cabin to watch them.

He was done fixing her armour now and just quickly checked to make sure he'd done everything correctly. He was just about finished when he just realized something.

"Oh shit! I nearly forgot," Harry said hurriedly.

Drawing his wand, he took a few steps towards Thalia. She looked suddenly nervous, and seeing her hesitation, Harry was quick to reassure her.

"Don't worry. I'm only resizing your armour slightly so it fits better," he said as he waved his wand over her body.

Slowly the armour shrunk and resized itself to fit her lithe form. He could tell instantly that it was more comfortable for her.

"Oh, now you tell me. Thanks a lot," she said, glaring at him playfully.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly before checking to see how she was falling, "Ready?"

Thalia took her familiar mace canister out of her pocket and quickly extended it into its spear form. She did a short flourish with the weapon, cutting through the air with a whistle. With a quick flick of her other arm, her shield was in place, and she looked every bit a warrior.

"I'll take that as a yes?" Harry questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You're damned right that's a yes! Now let's go knock some heads," Thalia said cheerfully.

"You know the objective is to capture the flag right?" Harry said with a wry smile.

"And you expect them to just hand it over like good samaritans?" Thalia questioned, leaning on her spear.

"Well no-" Harry started.

"So let's go rough 'em up a bit," she interrupted, before walking away to join the rest of the team.

' _She's going to be the death of me,'_ Harry thought despairingly before he followed her and called his team together.

Before long, he had his team standing around him in a small semi-circle, armoured up and ready to go. Behind him was the home stretch to their flag, blowing gently in the wind as streaks of sunlight shone through the trees. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he saw the Aphrodite campers, armour gleaming and almost hurting his eyes in the evening sun. Even when about to go into battle, they were more concerned with how they looked than how good they are at their job. He rarely saw them at the training ground. There were perhaps only 2 or 3 Aphrodite campers that he would trust to have his back in a real fight.

"Ok is everyone here?" He asked the group, getting firm nods in return. After doing a quick head count he continued.

"I'm sure most of you know what to do, but I'll explain it again just so we understand each other," he said clearly, pacing inside the semicircle.

"The opposing team is lead by Percy Jackson, but we all know that Annabeth Chase is the one we really have to watch out for. She's the brains behind pretty much everything they will do. Take her out of the game early enough and the team won't know how to adapt. However only take the shot if it's minimal risk. I don't want any heroes rushing in just because they caught sight of her. I need each and every one of you."

"Ares cabin," he said, gesturing the 7 burly demigods to the left of him.

They were easily recognizable by their huge stature and perpetual surly expressions. At the front stood Clarisse, spear in hand.

"I need two of you to act as guards at our flag base." he said "I know. I know! Not the most glamorous job but it's important," Harry added after getting a few disgruntled looks.

"I don't care which one of you it is, I'll leave that up to you guys to decide, but Clarisse, I need you to lead the team to act as interference in the middle section between the two bases. Your objective is simply to throw your weight around and make sure anyone heading towards our base has a horrible time getting here. Choose 2 of your fellow campers to go with you and 5 from elsewhere," Harry told the Ares cabin leader to which she nodded an affirmative in reply.

She also selected the two who would be defending their flag. They moaned briefly but all complaining soon stopped when Clarisse glared at them. Nobody in the camp defied an order from her. Well, maybe Harry... and recently Percy too. They were the exception. If half the stories about the quest into the Sea Of Monsters were true, Percy was not afraid to stand up the to Cabin 5 counsellor.

Turning away, she selected two of her cabin mates and 5 other campers like Harry instructed and then walked to one side, talking among themselves.

"I'll be leading the attack team. Thalia, since this is your first CTF stay with me," he instructed. "I know you can take care of yourself… more than most, but I want to ease you in."

"I'll be fine Harry," she said, almost petulantly which made Harry smile.

"I know you will," Harry said simply, meeting her gaze.

Someone in their group coughed awkwardly, snapping Harry's attention back to what they were doing.

"Ok attack team on me. As soon as the horn sounds, move out, keep a V formation and for gods' sake keep your eyes peeled for traps. This is the Athena cabin we are dealing with, remember, they won't make things easy for us." Harry finished.

As the group split off into teams, Thalia stood to Harry's left, giving her spear a flourish and raising her shield in a defensive position in front of her. Her face bore an excited smile, and she looked like she could barely keep her enthusiasm contained.

"Could you be any happier?" Harry teased.

Thalia answered that by smiling even wider. Harry was about to reply when he heard the horn that indicated the start of the game.

"Let's go guys!" he shouted, before leading his team through the trees, sword in hand, helmet covering his face.

His teammates fanned out around him, in a well-practiced V formation. Thalia was just a little way behind him, making up the first attacker on the left. His group moved swiftly through the undergrowth, keeping their eyes peeled in for anyone that they might come across. It was times like this he really wished the Aphrodite cabin wouldn't polish their armour so much. They were like a beacon for anyone that might possibly see them.

As they neared the centre area, Harry noticed Clarisse's group splitting up, although each member kept within the line of sight of at least one other, so that if anyone was taken out, somebody else could raise the alarm. Nobody spoke as they did this, fully aware that they could be overheard. They were in no man's land now and could be attacked at any time. Also, the longer the game went on, the less light would be available, and this played directly into the other team's hands. He wanted this to be a hard and fast strike.

It was after about ten minutes that he noticed movement among the trees in front of him. It was subtle, and most people would have missed it, but he had done many a game of capture the flag and knew exactly what to look for.

Holding his hand up in the universal sign to halt, he stopped his team from advancing. The moment he did so, campers started flowing from the trees. An ambush had been sprung. Harry had expected something of this nature though and quickly gained control of the situation.

"Make a line! Shields ready," he called as he readied his sword.

He himself did not have a shield, but he had never needed one, preferring to simply not be in the way of a strike altogether. His speed was unmatched by anyone else in the camp, and his movement flowed like water, unpredictable and fluid.

As the first opponent neared him, he lightly spun his sword in his hand and waited for the strike. When he came near, the opposing camper, a member of Dionysus cabin, swung his sword downwards, trying to rely more on force of motion than any actual technique. This proved to be a mistake as Harry simply stepped to one side and swung his own sword in a downwards arc, tripping him up before his teammate finished the job by knocking him out.

One down.

With the first enemy down. He took a brief moment to quickly count the number of adversaries. 1, 2, 3...6. Six opponents. He had the numbers it seemed. That was good. Or bad. It was hard to tell this early, They could be stepping into an even bigger trap. He had to play this carefully.

Another opponent came towards him, raising their shield defensively. This one seemed to be thinking about what they were doing more and eyed him warily. He could see wisps of blonde hair poking through their helm, and they appeared to be a little older than Harry, maybe 13 or 14. It was a few seconds before he decided to attack, feinting to the left before changing directing and going for a stab in the shoulder. Harry had already moved though, and left the attack to pass harmlessly into thin air, before moving again to avoid the follow-up, a swing aimed at his legs. The next blow could not be avoided though, so he deflected the attack to one side before using his body weight to push him back. This aggravated the young demigod somewhat, and Harry had to backup a few steps as he used his shield to try and beat him back.

Meanwhile, Thalia was having a blast, using her shield and spear to great effect. Her opponent was a thickset demigod with cropped black hair. He had a scar going through his left eye and an arrogant smirk on his face. She was going to enjoy wiping the smile away.

She left her shield locked against her body and thrust out her spear at regular intervals, keeping the larger camper at bay. Every time he tried to close the distance, she struck again, aiming her spear at his shield, trying to knock it away so she could get a knockout hit. It would be easier if she was going for the kill but she didn't want to hurt him. This was fun not murder.

She could see he was getting more and more frustrated, his attacks getting more and more erratic. This made her smile wider, which in turn made him even angrier. Before long he made a horrible mistake, overextending as he tried to close the distance to Thalia. He was brought in range of her Aegis shield and she slammed it into his face, knocking him out cold. She glanced over to Harry, who was busy with her opponent, before looking around briefly to see if she was needed. She noticed one of her fellow teammates being driven back slowly by a particularly skilled opponent. Seeing the danger, she went back to help her troubled teammate.

Harry was slowly wearing down his opponent, ducking left, moving right, and sometimes spinning out of the way completely. It was a tactic he had perfected over the years, exhausting the opponent until he could turn the tables. The opponent was slowing down. Not by much but enough. He swipes were a little less accurate, and the few times he had to parry, Harry could feel how the slightly weaker contact the metal made. Pretty soon he was ducking out of the way of a shield strike, and, seeing his opportunity, Harry flicked his wand in his off hand and called, "Expelliarmus!"

The shield was forced out of the boys weakened grip, flying away, though Harry had to duck so it didn't hit him in the face. The other camper looked shocked and Harry took advantage of this by launching a stunner at the boys exposed face. He crumpled unconscious in a flash of red light. It was tricky using spells like that on other demigods. Celestial Bronze tended to reflect most curses away.

Thalia herself had just finished dealing with her second opponent, violently hitting the female camper with the shaft of her spear before raising her hand and summoning a strong gust of wind to drive them into a nearby tree.

Harry was down two campers but, all in all, his team had done ok and he quickly made sure nobody was too badly injured.

"Everyone ok?" he called, helping one of the Aphrodite campers who had been knocked over back to their feet.

She had a nasty bruise on her arm but she was otherwise fine. Motioning her over, he did his best to reduce the size of her injury. It was big enough though that he had a feeling she'd be needy some bruise reduction paste or ambrosia later.

"All good!" Thalia called.

Harry could see a cut on her lip but she didn't seem to notice or care. Harry looked around and checked his teammates. When they all called out they were fine Harry pointed to the trees.

"Let's move that way guys, but be careful. I wouldn't put it past them to set up another trap. Plus we haven't seen Percy or Annabeth yet," he instructed as he moved his group closer to the treeline.

He noticed they were in something of a clearing right now and it would be good to get out of the open ground.

"Keep an eye for tripwires," Harry said, edging forwards slowly.

"Tripwires?" Thalia questioned

"We aren't allowed to use explosives for obvious reasons but they still might have paint bombs or smoke," explained a nearby camper, John a member of the Demeter cabin.

"Makes sense."

"Be careful in the long grass," Harry warned.

Before long, moving through the treeline and into the thick forest, his team followed his lead, moving carefully through the undergrowth and keeping an eye out for the enemy flag. The streaks of light cutting through the trees were starting to hit a more horizontal line, indicating that the sun was starting to set and they didn't have much time before any trap they came across would be impossible to stop. Seeing this, he gestured for his team to follow and began picking up the pace.

It was a mistake on his part.

The first indication something was wrong was the sound of a click. This could have been mistaken for the snapping of a twig if it wasn't for what followed it. Hearing the click, Harry stopped moving. It was a good job he did as well, as when he did he could hear the faint sounds of gears moving, like a clockwork timer.

"Get down!" he shouted as he dived to the floor. As he dropped to the ground, the timer stopped.

Hell erupted around them.

The air was thick with what looked like purple paint and pretty soon Harry could make out the sounds of screaming from all sides as he realized that he had been well and truly trapped. He got up only to feel the whistle of an arrow by his ear. He knew that they were not allowed to use standard arrows and they were probably only able to stun him, but he still mentally berated himself for being so careless.

"Archers! Shields ready. Form a close circle on me," he called. Quick as they possibly could, his team assembled in a circle around him.

"Push forward. They will never stop shooting until they run-" Harry was cut off by an arrow nearly striking him in the chest. He waves his hand in front of him and let off some of his demigod power. The next arrow aimed at him burst into flames in midair.

"-until they run out" he finished.

Not wanting to start a forest fire, Harry reigned in his instinctual power. He did not want the wood nymphs after his hide if he harmed their trees. So instead, he summoned up a small localized duelers shield on the tip of his wand as he ran.

He was so busy deflecting arrows as they came from different angles that he nearly missed the first demigod coming at him.

"Shit," he cried as he saw a blade coming straight for his sword arm.

He dodged to one side, careful of staying in formation. He traded a few hits with his opponent, noticing the familiar way she moved out of the way of his strikes.

"Annabeth. Was beginning to think we you wouldn't show," he said with a smirk.

She darted out of the way of his sword strikes, keeping her knife loosely gripped as she twirled around. Harry kept dodging her strikes, knowing that with a knife she was able to strike him much faster. She struck at him again, aiming for his head. Harry moved to one side in the nick of time and launched another crimson stunner from his wand in retaliation. Bending backwards she let it pass over top of her so it could continue on it's flight. A small cry of surrpise on his peripheral hearing indicated it had hit someone else by accident, but friend or foe, he had no idea.

"Using one of your little tricks again," the blonde grunted, lunging for him.

Twisting his sword into her path, he caught one of her knives, not expecting her other to slip past his guard, heading towards his wand hand. He flinched backwards but it wasn't enough as he felt the celestial bronze slice into his inner arm. He nearly dropped his wand, but luckily kept his grip.

Seeing that this was not a good match up for him at the moment he called to Thalia next to him, "Swap places. I haven't got the range to hold her back."

"Gladly. Oh, Annie!" She called in a mocking tone as Harry quickly slotted into Thalia's position, now covering the left side of the ambush.

"Don't call me that!" Annabeth snapped.

"But that's your name Annie," Thalia said with a mock-confused expression

"It's Annabeth!" Annabeth growled.

"Whatever you say Annie" she taunted. This angered her even further and she rushed forward, only to have Thalia thrust her spear out at her, winding her as it slammed into her.

From the angle he was now at Harry could see 4 Apollo campers in the trees, all loosing arrows the fastest they could. Harry frantically through up a much broader shield above their heads at this point, arrow pinging off of it uselessly. Another camper through themselves at his person, and he barely held them off with his blade, his mind more focused on the blood dripping down his other arm. Harry dodged as much as he could, parried as much as he could but he could feel himself getting tired and his movements slowing.

"Thalia, I think we need some divine intervention," Harry called, hoping she got the hint.

"What?" he barely heard her confused voice over the large boom of an explosive arrow that shattered his large shield. It was smart idea, but whoever had shot it was going to have Chiron after them soon enough for violating the no explosives rule.

Thalia was spinning her spear in a wide arc, keeping her childhood friend at bay.

"Divine intervention... specifically of the _shocking_ kind," Harry said, diving to one side as a particularly ambitious camper tried to charge him. He slammed the pommel into the young girl's face, but not before an arrow slipped through his guard and hit one of his teammates in the back.

Now, he only had 4 members of the attacking team left. This could get nasty quickly.

"Thalia now!" He called desperately, just managing to deflect a few arrows away with his shaking wand before cleverly using the end of his sword to flick one particularly badly aimed arrow into the air. He couldn't see but rather feel Thalia use her power over the wind to drive it into one of her assailants.

As soon as she was finished redirecting the arrow, she raised her spear high into the air and slapped her shield into Annabeth to drive her back, giving her enough time to draw on her divine power.

"Protect her guys! Just a few more seconds!" Harry called.

Harry noticed clouds starting to form above the group, blotting out the setting sun. They came into existence within seconds, darkening from a cotton bud white to dark grey and then to nearly black. The surrounding demigods looked at each other nervously, knowing what was coming but having no way to stop it. The next thing they knew an arc of lightning arced it's way to where Thalia was standing, hitting her spear and travelling through her body. Any normal human would have been vaporized, but not Thalia.

Tendrils of its power caressed her skin as the electricity travelled through her body in a wave. Then, in one movement, she slammed her spear into the ground.

The shockwave was devastating. Not even she knew what was going to happen next. The sheer power of the strike rippled through the floor, cracking the earth like weathered parchment. The force directed right in front had the group thrown into the air like ragdolls, completely unable to mount any kind of defence. Annabeth, being the closest, was thrown the farthest, rolling more than once as she was knocked out by the blast.

There was still power travelling up and down her body, the electricity not quite expelled yet. When Harry glanced at her, he could have sworn he could see a storm in her eyes. He was quickly reminded of who her father was, and how fearsome her legacy was. As she glanced at those still waiting in the flanks to attack, Harry could see them flinch and start to look nervous, like they had awoken something that should have been left alone. Maybe they were right.

Now with one side of their ambush completely taken out of the game, Harry quickly reorganised the remaining 3 members and adopted a defensive position, 2 facing the left and 2 facing the right. Doing his best to at least close the wound and wrap it in some conjured bandages. he watched as Thalia came to stand next to him. He could see beads of sweat on her forehead, a telltale sign that she was starting to fatigue.

' _That lightning strike must have taken a lot out of her,'_ he thought. He knew they were not out of the woods yet.

"You ok?" Harry asked Thalia, concern seeping into his voice. She was starting to look ragged.

"Yeah... I didn't expect that."

"I don't think anyone did. That's one large crater," Harry said, sparing a small glance to the ruined earth Thalia had created with her impromptu lightning strike. Where there was green now there was only kicked up dirt, and even a few trees had cracks now running through them, now smoking slightly from the power behind the attack.

Before he could think of what to do next, he noticed movement in the trees where the Apollo kids had just recovered from their shock and were still shooting. It happened so fast that he barely had time to register what was going on. Within seconds 3 Apollo archers had fallen.

"Behind us!" he heard them call, but it was no use, they were well and truly taken by surprise, so focussed on Harry's attack team that they didn't notice what was going on behind them before it was too late.

One by one they fell, desperately trying to defend themselves but having no luck as their burly attackers struck them without hesitation. Harry couldn't see what was going on behind him but by the noises, much the same thing was happening there.

"Go on! Harry, we'll deal with this lot. Take the flag!" Harry heard a voice he recognized as Clarisse call from behind him.

He turned, knowing it was now safe to break defensive formation. He saw the familiar daughter of Ares pummeling one of the campers to the ground.

"You sure?" Harry asked.

"What? You think I can't deal with these punks? Please! Go!" He heard her snort before spinning her spear to smash into a camper's face with a crunch.

"Fine," Harry sighed.

Gesturing his team to follow, he started to run, searching for the enemy flag.

It wasn't long before he found it. Thalia's storm clouds were starting to disperse, letting what little light was left shine back on the short grass between the flag and the forest. On either side were two campers. Both of them were rather large, though not the strongest swordsmen. This meant that Percy was likely with the attacking forces going for his flag. That was troublesome as he doubted that any of his team could really match him in a fight. He was hoping that he had been simply outnumbered but he knew he probably wasn't that lucky.

As Harry and his small team advanced, not once did they break stride. The two demigods guarding the flag had no time to react and before long they were upon them, completely outnumbered and very outclassed. Harry swung his blade in an upward direction, deflecting the sword of a panicked camper away. Then, in one movement, he jabbed his wand forward, hitting them with a banishing charm powerful enough to send him sprawling.

The other defender didn't fare much better since Thalia drove her aegis shield into him before he could react.

"Thalia, take the flag! We'll cover you." Harry called, wasting no time at all.

He knew they needed to get out of there as fast as possible. If Percy had already captured their flag and they were caught at their flag base, they could be caught very flat-footed. They could end up surrendering the game to them if they dropped it for even a second. He also noticed that he hadn't seen Hannah yet. He had recognized many of the Hermes cabin among the ambush earlier but not her, although with everything going so fast, it was quite possible he simply missed her. He hoped he had. He always hated the possibility of hurting her, even as part of a game that involved physical confrontation.

"Alright let's go," Harry said hurriedly.

Thalia had just picked up the flag, reducing her spear back into the mace canister it was oft disguised as. The Poseidon emblem displayed clearly on the fabric, gently rippling in the breeze.

"You all set?" Harry said to which his teammate nodded.

"Alright, let's go," he answered, before taking off in a run that his teammates followed.

The journey back was a lot less eventful than the one there. He could see that many of the other campers were already out of the game. While many of them had regained consciousness, they were in no state to fight, and just leaned on trees or lay groaning on the ground as they rushed past. When they passed the place they were attacked, he was slightly shocked at the damage that was caused. He even noticed Chiron treating one of the campers, a nasty cut running down his cheek. It was rare that he was called on the field to help.

He could see Thalia look a little guilty and was quick to reassure her.

"Don't worry they'll be fine. We're made of strong stuff, us demigods, and sometimes accidents happen," he panted, moving as quickly as he could.

"Still…" Thalia started but Harry was quick to cut her off.

"I said don't worry. It was my fault that I told you to do it. I just didn't know quite what I was asking for," Harry reassured with a wry smile. "I'll tell Chiron it was an accident, don't worry."

They were perhaps three-quarters of the way back to their base when they saw Percy bounding out of the trees, 3 other campers in tow. Harry could tell they had seen combat but were nowhere near as tired as he was. He could see the widening of the son of Poseidon's eyes as he bounded out towards him. He passed off the flag to the camper next to him, Connor Stoll. Harry could tell he was nervous, as he had yet to beat him in a fight. Harry vowed that wasn't about to change anytime soon.

"Hey! Kelp Head!" Thalia called, waving the flag tauntingly in the air. Percy narrowed his eyes, drawing the familiar golden pen out of his pocket and letting it extend into the legendary sword Riptide.

"...Thu-...Storm...er" Percy stammered. It was quite amusing for Harry really, watching him flounder about. Harry promised himself he'd find an irritating nickname for her over the next few weeks. She can't be the only one to have all the fun and she was obviously quite cocky.

"Don't blow a fuse trying to think of a good insult! We've got all day," Thalia replied with a smirk, readying her spear.

"You've got something that belongs to us," Harry said, readying his sword with a shark-like grin.

He always loved this part of the game, where winning or losing came down to a single battle. You had to make sure the opponent with your flag can't get past while getting your teammate through to deliver the opposite teams.

Without giving Percy any time to reply, he pushed forward and attacked, swiping his sword in a downward arc. The rest of his team followed his example, each engaging one of the opponents, storming in thunderously as they desperately tried to break the enemy line. Percy met each of Harry's precise blows, deflecting them neatly away from him as he slowly stepped back. Harry didn't give him a lot of opportunities to counter, as he knew that he needed to keep pushing. Percy was a great fighter, a prodigy with a sword really. It was only because Harry existed that he wasn't the best swordsman currently at camp. Each time Harry attacked his strikes were met with an almost perfect defence. This wasn't a time for his usual tactics of dodging and wearing down his opponent. He just did not have the time to do that. It was rare he was pushed this far with his swordsmanship alone and he relished the challenge... so much so that he didn't even consider using magic. He wanted to beat Percy without it.

Meanwhile, Thalia was engaging a young Athena camper, doing something that nobody present had ever really seen before. She was using the flag itself as a weapon. The daughter of Zeus swung it neatly around her body, using its immense length to keep her opponent at bay.

She swooped the flagpole across the ground, scraping the grass as it glided effortlessly around her. The Athena camper tripped over, and, trying to capitalise on the moment of weakness, she swung the flag over her head and slammed it into where he landed. However, her opposition had managed to just about dodge out of the way, and she barely had enough to block his retaliatory sword strike with her shield. Almost tripping over it, Thalia snapped outwards with the flag, using it as a spear and driving it into the poor boy's stomach. With a short spin, she then smashed the end of the pole across his face, knocking him to the floor again. This time, he did not get up.

Harry meanwhile was still in a dance of swords with Percy, driving forward as much as he could. He kept his strikes unpredictable, aiming high and low, left and right at a seemingly random rate. There were a few times he was nearly able to end the engagement but Percy seemed determined not to lose, managing to dodge at the last moment every time. He didn't seem to notice how far back he was being driven though, and pretty soon Harry was nearly at the base of his flag.

Dropping his body, Harry dived underneath a swing aiming at his upper body, bending his back neatly under the blade before kicking at Percy's legs behind him, dropping him to the floor. Harry used this small reprieve to look over the battlefield to where his group was skirmishing. One of his teammates had been taken down, but luckily the enemy flag bearer seemed to have been neutralised, left unconscious on the ground.

The allied camper next to him picked their dropped flag and rushed it back to Harry's base as fast as he could. Thalia, on the other hand, was busy fending off two demigods with her flagpole. They were a young Hermes girl of about 12 years old and her brother a boy a few years older. The flag was nimbly spun around like a staff as she began ducking and diving through multiple blows.

Harry was strongly reminded of Darth Maul in the Star Wars movies. Thalia gracefully kept her act flowing from move to move. This kept both enemies' attention on her while Harry's other ally dragged their flag back to base. He could help but smile at this. Thalia really was an inventive fighter, and now his team had practically won.

Before Percy could get his bearings again, Harry conjured a small fireball in his hand and propelled it towards him with force. The flames hit Percy at pace and blasted him back several feet, leaving him laying in a heap. He had made sure to keep his power low so as to not permanently hurt him or give any severe burns. Wasting no time, Harry shouted out as loudly as he could to Thalia.

"Thalia, throw the flag!" he cried, another one of their teammates just passing him by, panting heavily as they hauled their flag back to safety. With a mighty heave, he drove the flag back into their base before collapsing to the floor exhausted.

Thalia glanced over at Harry, her eyes widening as she saw what had just transpired. She had never seen anyone that could use powers like that and wondered who his divine parent might be. He seemed to be able to fling and manipulate fire with such ease. Spinning the flag in an arc, she knocked back her male assailant while ducking under the blow of the second. She then thrust the tip of it into his groin, causing them to double over in pain. Handling the flag like a spear, holding it around the level of her head, she leaned back as she aimed it with precision. Without any other warning, she thrust it forward towards where Harry stood waiting.

Time seemed to nearly stand still, and the pole seemed to almost hang in the air as it flew towards its target. What seemed like an age spanned only a fraction of a second. Thalia had thrown it with so much force that had Harry had almost let it pass through his fingers, his reactions having to be at their peak to pluck the flag from the air before him. Snatching it out of the air with deft precision, he immediately turned to rush to the creek line, running as fast as his legs would take him. Percy and his group didn't even have the slightest time to pursue, and it took Harry only a few seconds to cross the creek line.

That was it, Harry's team had won.

The game was over.

* * *

A few days after the first summer game of Capture the Flag, Harry sat inside his cabin doing some reading ahead for his next year of schooling. He didn't consider himself a true academic, but if one thing was drilled into their heads as demigods, it was how dangerous life could be, and he liked to be as prepared as he could be. Seeing as he had a free morning, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him to do something like this, what was uncommon was for him to be disturbed. Chiron had quickly forgiven Thalia for the episode in the forest. After warning her to be careful in the future, he assured her that these things happen and often fledgeling demigods didn't have a good handle on their own strength. Harry knew that he would forgive her but it was nice to see the relief on her face when she realized she wasn't in trouble all the same.

A loud rapping at his door drew his attention away from the textbook he'd been studying. Setting it aside, he stood and strode across the room, pulling the door open.

"Thalia?" He was honestly surprised to see the girl on his doorstep.

They'd spent a fair bit of time together since her return to human form, and he was fast considering her to be a good friend, but this was the first time she'd just showed up out of the blue.

"Harry," she began, "I need to know what is going on. Please. You'll tell me the truth, right?"

Feeling concerned, Harry moved out of the way and ushered her inside. Her current countenance was worrying him. She always seemed so confident and in control, even after waking up she'd been upbeat and cracking jokes. It obvious for everyone to see that she had some unresolved anger towards her father and related problems but he'd never seen her so distressed.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He asked.

The black haired girl in question paced back in forth in front of his low burning hearth. She was muttering something to herself, but it was too low and fast for him to understand.

"Thalia!" He grabbed her arm, trying to get her attention. To his shock, he felt her tense, ripping her arm away a moment later, shifting into a defensive stance. Holding his hands up in an attempt to appear non-threatening. "Thalia?" He said more softly.

Taking a shaky sounding breath and shutting her eyes, Harry watched as the daughter of Zeus forced herself to relax. "I need you to tell me about Luke. I need the truth." She opened her eyes at the end, the striking electric blue orbs drilling into him.

Harry couldn't help but flinch. He didn't really mind talking about Luke, seeing as his actions didn't really shock him, but he was wary of speaking to Thalia about him. He'd been here when Luke and Annabeth arrived at camp… when Thalia had been turned into a pine tree. He knew they had been traveling companions. He also knew Luke had been the one to almost kill her tree.

Swallowing nervously, his throat feeling surprisingly dry, Harry finally replied, "Ok."

"Ok," she repeated, "you'll tell me."

Harry nodded, "Let's sit down first though. I have a feeling it will be a long conversation."

Sitting down Harry watched as Thalia matched him. Watching her patiently his worries continued to mount as he watched her shift uncomfortably. "So what exactly did you want to know?"

"Everything. What exactly happened to him?"

Harry sat there for a moment trying to think what exactly he could share that could help her before a question of his own was formulated, "What exactly brought this up?" The look she gave him was a clear 'are you serious' kind of look, but he persisted, making her expression soften, "You've been awake for a week and haven't mentioned him before."

"I… you were here at the camp when my father turned me into the tree, right?"

"Of course, I told you that."

Thalia just nodded, "Well then you should know that I was travelling with Luke and Annabeth."

Harry did know that. He'd assumed they'd all known each other at least decently well, seeing as how distraught the two demigods had been that Thalia hadn't made it. It could have easily been simple survivor's guilt, but the fact that Luke had visited Thalia's tree for years afterwards convinced him otherwise.

"I did know about that, but was never sure how long you'd all known each other."

She looked down, "We'd both ran away from home, Luke and I. We never talked about it much, but our home lives… they weren't the best. He was the first person I'd ever met who understood me. We stayed together, after that. We kept each other safe for over 2 years. Then we met Annabeth. She was only 9 years-old and yet she helped save our lives from a Cyclops. Luke gave her his knife. It was soon after, that we met Grover, and our trek to Camp began. You know how that ended."

Harry nodded sadly. It seemed they had been even closer than he'd initially thought. "So you want to know from the beginning?" She nodded and Harry sighed. "I'm not sure what to tell you. I knew him. He was claimed almost immediately by Hermes so we saw each other a lot. He struggled a lot when he got here, trying to get settled. Despite him being older than me, I tried to reach out to help but he always brushed me off. Not that we didn't get along, because we did, but it was obvious to those who paid attention the disdain he held for the gods. I always thought it would cause him trouble eventually."

Thalia didn't say much, her eyes averted and hidden under her bangs. This kind of quiet wasn't like her and it was unnerving. Not hearing any protest, he decided to continue on.

"Apart from that, all in all, he was a good camper. He was a prodigy with a sword, one of the very best in the camp. He could beat anyone easily, except for maybe myself." Thalia still didn't comment. "He was always helpful to those younger than him. He was the perfect mentor really."

"Well goes to show how well you guys really knew him then," she bit out sarcastically.

Harry sighed, it was obvious she was hurting. He wanted to comfort her, but wasn't sure what to do, "I... he cared for you Thalia. I'm sure of it. It's one of the ways I knew he was hurting so much. I saw him going to visit your tree. Every week when he thought no one would notice he'd go and sit there. I know he-"

"Cared for me?" She said incredulously, looking back up at Harry, her eyes flashing. "He poisoned my tree! He poisoned me! He tried to kill me! Unless that isn't true. I've heard so many contradictory stories about him around camp, I don't know what to believe anymore. So tell me, Harry, what is the truth?"

"It's true," he looked down feeling foolish. "He did poison you."

"What about all the rest?"

"I'm not sure what you've heard," Harry hesitated, "He did steal your father's master bolt and framed it on Percy. He summoned a Hellhound passed camp borders. He tried to sabotage their quest by Have Percy dragged into Tartarus but it almost worked on Grover instead. He later poisoned Percy and left him to die. From what I've heard otherwise he came to blows with Percy and Annabeth on their last quest too." Harry trailed off.

"So he really did betray us then…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry Thalia," Harry offered. "I understand what it's like to be betrayed. The feeling o-"

"You understand?" Thalia shot to her feet. "How could you ever understand what it's like. I… he… we were toge-" She cut herself off before finally whispering, "he tried to kill me." He heard a sob finally break through her wrought-iron control.

There was a strange sinking feeling in Harry's stomach, "You two were together… before… everything."

Thalia nodded, and Harry could see a few tears escaping her eyes. It was such a strange sight. Thalia was the last person he ever expected to be in tears. A moment later, she froze as if realizing what she was doing. Wiping her eyes, her face flushed, "I… it's none of your business! I don't need to talk about this with you!" Spinning on her heel she marched towards the door and wrenched it open.

"Thalia!" Harry called, and the girl in question froze. "I'm sorry. I… if you need anything more, you can come talk to me."

Harry could see her hesitating. As she stood there in the open doorway, she was wavering. Finally, seeing her shoulders slump forward, she shut the door and shuffled back across the room, before throwing herself onto the couch, with an almost inaudible muttered, "sorry."

Harry let her sit in silence for a few minutes so they could all calm down before broaching it all again, "I'm really sorry all this has happened to you, Thalia. You were right though, I have no idea how you are feeling. I've dealt with betrayal before, but not in the same way as you and just because I know how it felt for me doesn't mean I should assume how it felt for you. I-"

"Harry. Shut up," she cut him off. "It's fine. I overreacted."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. That sounded more like her. He even saw a weak grin tug on her lips.

"Ok then," he said. "Even so, if you want to talk about any of… that… you can, but I won't force you. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"No! Well, maybe… I don't know," Thalia paused a deep breath, "It's just… I feel so betrayed. I guess we weren't technically together, it was never official, but it was sort of this unspoken thing between us… or so I thought. The fact that he tried to kill me and betrayed the camp… it makes me feel sick to my stomach. The Luke I originally knew wouldn't do that. He had always hated his dad, just like me, but… he wouldn't have done this. He's a different person now. The Luke I know is dead and… and... it hurts to know that."

Without thinking, Harry reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. The girl in question froze and looked like she was fighting herself not to tear it away. After a few moments, she finally began to relax.

She continued on in a whisper, "I hate him. I hate him so much… but at the same time, I don't. I still care for him while I hate him, and that just makes me hate him more."

"That's only natural. You-"

"Nothing about this is natural!" She shouted, jerking her hand away and standing. "Annabeth still believes he can be saved." She scoffed. "After everything you've told me he's done, she thinks that if she can just talk to him, she can convince him to come back and everything will be fine again. She doesn't say this in front of Percy of course. He has no trust in Luke, but when we were alone Annabeth wouldn't shut up about wanting to figure out a way to fix things. She just doesn't get it!"

Thalia fell back onto the couch again looking exhausted. "And as mad as I am at Annabeth for still wanting to try that, I'm angrier at myself for wishing she was right. It's why I came to talk to you really. I had to get away from her for a while."

Memories of the ex-Head Counselor for cabin 11 swarm through Harry's head. He could easily picture the broken teen, a few years his senior, trudging out to sit by Thalia's pine tree at night. Harry was sure that despite everything he had done, Luke did still care for Thalia. It was clear from what he'd said earlier, she wasn't ready to hear that, but it didn't make it any less true. He knew he should explain what he'd seen from look properly one day, but he didn't understand why such a thought left him with a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Well, I hope I was able to help even a little bit."

"You answered my questions. Thank you, Harry, "she hesitated once again. "So Luke never told anyone about… us? It wasn't common knowledge?"

Harry furrowed his brows, "I'd never heard that until tonight. I think everyone knew you, Luke, and Annabeth had arrived here together, but nothing about the… other."

Now it was Thalia's turn to frown, "I was so certain that was it."

"What was it?" Harry asked.

Thalia paused, "People have been acting strangely since I returned, and I mean stranger than they should be for a girl who'd been turned into a tree at the moment of her death only to be turned back years later should be. Even Chiron and Annabeth have been acting weird. Don't you remember it the night I woke up? The way everyone was staring? I think you were the only one to treat me normally. I thought everyone had known about Luke… and I, and that's why they were treating me like..."

Harry flinched at her words, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Chiron didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what? Harry, what's going on?" She asked a touch of panic entering her voice.

"I… Chiron is like a mentor to me and I respect him greatly, but I don't know what he is playing at keeping this from you, I-"

"Harry, Just tell me."

"There's a prophecy." He said bluntly, making Thalia's eyes widen. "It speaks about the next demigod child of the big 3 to reach the age of 16. Up until now, they had believed that demigod to be Percy. The gods thought they had several years to figure out what to do about it until you came along, revived from your tree. I ran the tests myself, and it seems while you aged as a tree it was not at the same rate as a human. You are biologically 15 years-old, and thus a child of Zeus will turn 16 this coming Winter Solstice."

Thalia just stared at him shock. Her brow was wrinkled with frown lines and her posture was even more slouched from before. She looked like she had the weight of the world suddenly placed on her shoulders. Harry understood what it was. He lived that reality every day.

"Why? Why is this prophecy so important? Why do they care? The campers? Chiron? The gods? What does it all mean?"

"It's important," Harry began before pausing, "Because it means you hold the fate of Olympus in your very hands."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Here is our extremely long chapter 2 for you guys. We hope you enjoyed it. Most of the credit for the long capture the flag game can go to_ _ **Shadowz101**_ _for that. While the rest of the action scenes were split pretty evenly. Not much else to say other than thanks for all the support we've received so far with all the follows and favorites. We really appreciate the time you take to leave reviews. Chapter 3 should be out in about 2-3 weeks._


	4. Chapter 3: Past & Present

**Chapter 3:** _ **Past and Present**_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Sorry for the long wait everyone. The outpouring of reviews, follows and favorites we've gotten for this story has been amazing, so thank you to all of you. Here we have another long chapter for you guys. We hope you enjoy it and please continue to let us know you thoughts in the reviews. We should see you again with chapter 4 in a few weeks. All the best!_

* * *

"I want you to be careful today Harry," Chiron stated seriously. Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He got the same spiel every time he left camp. "I know you can handle yourself, but it's always dangerous for a demigod to leave the protections of camp. It's not like the safety of your school either. Monsters will seek to take advantage of this."

"I know Chiron," Harry tried to reassure him. "I'll be fine. I'm bringing my weapon, I have my wand, and Sirius will be there too."

The ancient Centaur sighed, "I know. Maybe I'm too old for this; I'm always nervous to see a camper go off into the world."

Harry patted him reassuringly on the arm, "I'm only gone for the day. You'll see me tonight."

Chiron smiled weakly, "Very well. Have a good day with your godfather, Harry. Please give my best to Mr. Black."

"Will do!" He saluted him as he strode out of the door of the big house.

Heading over towards Half-Blood Hill, where Thalia's pine tree now stood completely healthy sans Thalia herself, Harry kept an eye out for his new friend. He had wanted to let her know he'd be gone from camp for the day but hadn't seen her yet that morning. It was only just the night before that they'd had their intense conversation about Luke Castellan in his cabin where he had ended up revealing the contents of the great prophecy to her. She'd become quite quiet while digesting that new information, something he found easily understandable, and she'd left while later with only a quick murmur about going to bed. Truthfully, Harry found himself a bit concerned for Thalia, and he was hoping that she was taking things alright.

Not spotting her, Harry sighed. He'd have to look when he got back. Stepping forward, Harry crossed through the camp boundary, his skin lightly tingling. The camp's protections felt different than the wards around Ilvermorny. Here they were more natural as if they were accepted more easily by the world around them. No one had ever really done a study on it, but Harry figured it was the difference between magic wielded by a god and a mortal.

Walking down the hill, and towards the road, Harry spotted a familiar sight. Smiling, he picked up the pace nearing a large black motorcycle and the man leaning against it. The man in question was tall, well-built, darkly handsome man with fair skin, long, lustrous black hair, striking grey eyes, and an air of casual elegance. Seeing Harry approach the man grinned.

"Harry!"

"Hey, Sirius," he responded with a wave.

Finally stopping as he reached the bike, he was pulled into a rough hug, "I've missed you pup."

Struggling for a moment, Harry managed to break free with a scowl, "I thought I told you not to call me that. It's gotta be the cringiest nickname I've heard… almost." The last bit was mumbled as an afterthought as his mind wandered to Thalia's new propensity for calling him Gandalf.

Sirius pouted, "You'd really be so mean to your dear old godfather?"

"Whatever Sirius," Harry snorted. "What's the plan for today?"

The man grumbled something under his breath before hopping on the bike, patting the seat behind him, "I thought we could go for a little ride. Enjoy the nice day. Maybe even stop by the beach… enjoy the view." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You're old enough for that now."

"Still as much of a horndog, as usual, I see," Harry commented as he climbed on the bike behind Sirius.

"You wound me, Harry," he passed him back a helmet. "You won't think me so strange when you get a chance witness all those bikini-clad babes for yourself."

Harry just shook his head silently, before snapping a buckle below his chin. "I'm ready to go."

Sirius, having secured his own helmet, gripped the handlebars, "Better hang on then." As awkward as it was, Harry grudgingly wrapped his arms around his godfather. He revved the engine a few times and then they were off. Sirius sped down the highway at high speeds, pulling off when he could to take a seaside route. With the sun sparkling off the water, the two wizards zoomed over the black, baking pavement. They stopped once at a roadside gas station to pick up cold drinks only, the motorcycle itself enchanted to run without gasoline, before returning to the road.

Keeping his word, they soon pulled off the paved highway into a dirt and gravel parking lot for the beach. "So you weren't kidding about the beach?"

Having parked, Sirius looked back at him over his shoulder as he took off his helmet, "No. Is something wrong with the beach?"

Harry waved him off, "No, it's fine. I just thought that was you covering some other surprise or prank you were putting together."

Grabbing a bag from the back of the bike as Harry dismounted as well he sniffed in a faux-pompous attitude, "I'm an adult now, I don't have time for pranks."

"Whatever Sirius," Harry took the lead, "If you say so."

Walking out onto the surprisingly crowded beach, he looked for a free spot. Finally spotting one, he began heading that way. On the trek over, he couldn't help but feel his annoyance at both his godfather and himself grow. He'd been right, Harry couldn't help his gaze from running over the crowd and all the tantalizing tanned flesh and other interesting curves on display. _Damn that mut!_

Finally reaching their destination, Harry plopped down on the ground. Pulling both his socks off, he burrowed his feet in the sand. It was quite warm to his skin. Feeling a shadow fall over him, Harry looked up at his arriving godfather.

"Only you would take your 13-year-old godson to a nude beach, and before you even think about it, if you try and take your shorts off I'll hex your ass so many times you won't be sitting properly for a month. I don't want to see all that," Harry said.

Sirius grinned, completely ignoring his godson's threats, "I know, I'm the best, aren't I?"

"I'm sure my mom would agree," Harry quipped.

The older man's grin faltered, "First of all, don't act like you don't enjoy it. I saw where your eyes went." Harry resisted the urge to curse him. "If you want to be subtle, make sure you bring some shades with you next time." Sirius tapped his own sunglasses. "Just some tips of the trade." The next part, to Harry's amusement, came out in a panicked rush, "Lastly, you aren't actually going to tell her I brought you here, are you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "You really think I need to tell her? That she doesn't already know?"

Harry watched as his face paled and he began chuckling nervously. After a moment of that, he paused, his eyes widening with some unknown realization, "Merlin! That's how she used to do it, didn't she? Lily used to always seem to know when we were up to something… planning some kind of prank. I knew she couldn't have figured us out all those times naturally!"

Snorting, Harry shook his head. Leave it to Sirius to relate it back to some stupid prank. Leaning back on his elbows, he watched as his godfather dug through the bag he'd brought with him. Seeming to find what he was looking for, he looked around for a moment before pulling out a long pole that was much too large to fit the bag it came from. Planting the large beach umbrella in the sand, he put up the canopy.

"Sirius!" Harry hissed, looking around them in worry. "Are you trying to get caught? Having MACUSA come breathing down our neck because you've caught some no-maj's attention and broken the Statute of Secrecy is the last thing we need."

"You worry too much! None of the muggles saw." He commented. "It's not like it's any worse than that sword you're carrying around with you."

"As I told you before, it's covered by the mist, like all things related to the gods," Harry explained in frustration. "The no-majs might just notice a giant umbrella being set up that you didn't carry in with you, however."

"When did you get so serious?"

Eyes widening as he sensed the incoming pun, Harry cut Sirius off before he could continue, "Gods help me, Sirius. If you make one more serious Sirius pun, my mother finding out you took me to ogle naked women will be the least of your worries."

He pouted for the second time that day, "You're no fun anymore."

Grabbing Sirius' bag, he rooted around inside the undetectable extension charm before pulling out a beach towel. Wrapping it up, he set it under his head as a makeshift pillow. "So, how's work? I still can't believe MACUSA hired you."

"Boring really," Sirius commented. "Being a hit-wizard seems to be mostly chasing down people who've broken the statute of secrecy more than anything. The Aurors are the ones who get to the real investigative work."

"Are you still trying for that then?"

Sirius hesitated, "Yeah, but I doubt I'll ever get it. Most of the new trainees are always picked from the best and brightest of Ilvermorney's graduates." Harry nodded, knowing this already. "I'm getting older, and despite how well things have worked out for us, there would still be a political backlash if they made me an Auror… you know… because of my past."

"I see," he said, looking as he turned his head to look out at the water.

It wasn't that he felt guilty for what happened to Sirius, but he did feel bad for him. Everything connected to that one Halloween night had changed everything for so many people. It had been the moment he'd lost the chance to grow up with his family and also the night he'd been forced headfirst into the world of his godly heritage. The loss of his best friend had also sent Sirius' life off its previous path as well. It was one of the reasons he'd always be grateful for his godfather, still fulfilling his duty even if he only got to spend a little time with him when he wasn't at school or camp. Don't get him wrong, he loved Camp Halfblood, and it was truly the place he considered home, but he couldn't help but sometimes wonder what would have been different if the dark wizard known as Voldemort had not come calling that night.

"Enough about me," Sirius said, pulling his attention away from the sparkling waves. "How was school this year?"

Harry shrugged, "Same old. Same old."

"Oh come on! Something exciting must have happened," he pushed. "How about Quidditch?"

"Oh, well I guess Mike did make chaser this year. Thunderbird's won the cup, so that was exciting."

"That's your roommate from Canada, right." Harry nodded. "And I expected as much. I don't know how you would show your face if you'd lost the cup while using that new Firebolt I got you."

"The Firebolt I still don't know how you afforded. You don't have access to your family vaults back England Sirius, you've should be more careful with your money, and not taking out loans from the goblins."

Sirius waved him off, "Don't worry about me. My monetary situation is fine, and I promise I didn't need to take out a loan! That aside how does it ride? Is it as good as they say?"

Harry looked at his godfather carefully based on his comments, a few suspicions growing his head, but he let go for the moment, his grin growing, "I'll admit, it's pretty nice."

"Pretty nice?" He parroted incredulously.

"Ok, it's the best broom I've ever used. The precision, the acceleration, the control… it's amazing!" Harry admitted.

Sirius gave a bright, honest smile. "Then it's perfect for a prodigious seeker like you!"

"I wouldn't go tha-"

"You made it onto the reserve team in your first year, right?" Sirius interrupted. "And you were chosen to be the starter last year? I think that's pretty damn impressive if I say so myself." Harry flushed lightly under his praise, looking at him curiously a moment later as his godfather gained a wistful expression, "James would have been so proud of you."

Well, that killed the mood.

"Sorry about that," shaking himself, Sirius seemed to snap out of it on his own, "So as I was saying earlier, it seems you have finally got out of the ' _girls are icky'_ faze. Is there anyone you've got your eye on at school?"

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed mortified. "I'm only 13!"

"What? You'll be 14 in like two weeks." He shrugged. "I was hitting up the ladies ever since my first year at Hogwarts."

"And how many times did that lead to you being slapped by said girls?"

His godfather's eyes widened, "Listen to me Harry, whatever your mother has been telling you about me, it's all lies! Lily," he paused, "or I guess rather He-"

"Sirius," Harry cut him off warningly, his eyes shooting around the beach.

"What?"

"Be careful what you say out in the open," he said.

"No one can hear us!" Sirius insisted. "I put up some privacy enchantments earlier. I was just joking about the umbrella, trust me, I'm not that careless."

"That's debatable," Harry muttered, stretching his senses outwards and discovering that said enchantments were actually there like he said. It made him feel a bit bad for mistrusting him earlier though. "And you never know who can be listening. Names have power, and we are right on the edge of one of my Uncles' domains." He nodded towards the ocean before them. "And I doubt privacy spells would do anything against one of the gods if they really wanted to hear what we were saying."

Sirius sighed, looking tired, "I still don't think I'll ever get used to all this god's stuff." He studied Harry carefully. "How is… errr… your mother doing, anyway?"

Harry glanced back into the distance again, "Ok, I think. I haven't heard from her in a little while. I'm hoping I'll be able to see her again soon."

Sirius nodded before pointing to the bag he'd brought. I packed some sandwiches if you want. Our drinks are there as well."

"Ok, thanks," reaching forward to grab the bag, Harry retracted his hand quickly, feeling startled. The air in front of him seemed to ripple like water, and he saw a flash of something that looked like a rainbow. Just as suddenly, it coalesced into an image, an image of a familiar face to be exact. "Thalia?"

"Harry!" She sounded relieved. "Are you ok? Where are you? I couldn't find you anywhere around camp, and someone had mentioned that you had left."

He relaxed, realizing it wasn't some kind of emergency, and commented, "so you sent an Iris Message. You must have been worried."

A faint flush was visible on her cheeks, "Shut up! Just tell me if you're ok or not."

"I'm fine Thalia. My godfather picked me up for the day and took me to the beach. I was going to let you know before I left but I couldn't find you."

"At the beach huh? I bet you wish I was there," she teased with a wink. As much as he tried not to, he couldn't help his mind from going that direction now that she'd mentioned it, imagining how her lithe form would fill out a bikini, the amount of her creamy skin that would be on display. He shook himself out of those thoughts as they veered into more dangerous territory. He felt his face heating up. "Oh looks like you were thinking about that." She clucked her tongue. "If you're really missing me that badly, you could just ask, and I could show you what you missed out on by bringing me to the beach."

"WHAT?" Harry yelped, his ears burning even more fiercely and his heart rate skyrocketing. She could mean…she wasn't serious… she didn't...

The sound of her laughter brought him back down to earth, "You should see your face! Don't short circuit there on me now, Harry. Gods, you make yourself just too easy to tease sometimes."

Harry scowled, "Whatever." It was obvious she had been joking, so he wasn't sure why he felt so annoyed, He decided to change the subject, "So how are things going with you today?"

Her smile faded away almost instantly, "I'm fine."

Harry eyed her carefully, noting the signs of stress on her face, "Are you sure. I-"

"I said I'm fine," she bit out somewhat sharply causing Harry to flinch. She sighed a moment later, running her hand through shoulder length, spiky black hair. "Sorry… but I am fine. Just planning on going to talk to Chiron and later Annabeth about what you told me last night."

Harry had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he was going to be having his own conversation with Chiron soon. He'd probably be upset that Harry hadn't left him to talk to Thalia. Even though it would be annoying, he knew it was something Thalia needed to do.

"That's probably for the best."

Thalia suddenly looked somewhat awkward, glancing around somewhat nervously, "Anyway, I should probably go. Have fun at the beach!" She rushed out.

"Oh ok," Harry said taken aback at her sudden shift. "I guess I'll see you later than…"

"Yep, bye Harry!" The air rippled, and the image of Thalia faded away to mist in the air, and in moments that was gone too. Harry just sat there feeling a bit stunned and worried. He'd need to check in on her later.

Looking back up, Harry almost wished he hadn't when he was met with Sirius' shit eating grin. "So…" He trailed off.

"Shut up."

"Who's Thalia?"

"I said shut up," he repeated. "She's just a friend from camp."

"She didn't sound like just a friend. Did I not hear her offering to," he created air quotes with his hands, " _show you what you were missing by not bringing her to the beach._ "

Harry scowled at his godfather,

"I guess I should've asked you about any girls at camp, not at school."

"She's just a friend! You don't know Thalia, that's just how she is. She likes to tease, to joke around. It didn't mean anything."

Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, "But I know girls, and let me tell you Harry, if she's joking around with you like that, than there's a good chance she's at least interested."

"You don't know what you're saying."

His godfather shrugged, "You'll see for yourself I bet. The question is, do you like her?"

"What?" He spluttered before reiterating, "We're just friends."

"You said that already and I believe you. You are friends… for now. Are you interested in more? You seemed to like her suggestion a lot. From what I could see she's a beautiful gir-"

"I don't know, ok?" Harry snapped. "I know she's beautiful. She's a year and a half older than me. We've just barely started to become friends. Can you drop it now?"

Sirius ruffled his hair, his voice becoming serious, "Relax Harry, I'm just bugging you. If you do like this girl though, then you should go for it."

Harry just grunted in reply, ducking to avoid his godfather's reach. He wasn't sure how he felt about Sirius' insinuations. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to Thalia. They got along quite well, and he was already coming to care for her as a close friend. Did he want something more? He wasn't sure. It had barely been a few days.

"How do you two know each other then? Just through camp?" Sirius asked. "Is she new?"

Harry sighed, "Remember that story I told you about a few years ago and the three young demigods who were trying to make it to camp with that Satyr. The one where that daughter of Zeus fought off a pack of monsters only for as she lay there dying, her father turned her into a pine tree."

"Yeah, I think so," Sirius scratched his head. "I'd wondered where a tree of that size had appeared on that hill so suddenly the next time I'd picked you up."

"Well, the girl from the tree is… well… she's a girl again."

Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times mutely as if preparing to say something before giving up, "You know what? I'm not even going to ask."

"It's… a long story. But that's Thalia," Harry explained before reiterating, "My friend."

"You sure don't do things normally, Harry. That's for sure," he said before continuing a moment later. "Come on, let's dig into that food now."

* * *

Sirius Black cut the engine to his bike at the base of what he knew to be Half-Blood Hill. It was always a bittersweet moment when he had to do this. While he was happy that Harry had somewhere safe supportive to go, he also missed having him around. He felt like he should be more active in his godson's life even if he severely doubted his own ability to be a proper sole role model in his life. It was probably for the best Harry had grown up at camp.

"Thanks for today Sirius," Harry said as he handed back the motorcycle helmet he had been using before teasing, "Even if the beach was just an excuse to fulfill your own perverted tendencies, it was nice to get out for a while."

Hooking the helmet onto the handlebars, he pulled his godson into a quick hug, "Anytime kid. Anytime."

Pulling back, he looked him over once more. Harry really did look like James, enough that sometimes just catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye made him forget his best friend was gone. Apart from that, actually looking at him closely, it was obvious he wasn't James. He didn't have the glasses, and his green eyes seemed to almost glow with power. Even someone with no knowledge of the magical or immortal worlds would be able to tell there was something different about him. They'd be able to sense his inhuman heritage.

"Anyway, I'll see you later!" He said starting to back away. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"Hey! I'm the adult here, isn't that my line?"

"I'm not so sure about that," Harry teased.

"Oi!" Sirius exclaimed with a grin. "You've got it easy. It seems your little girlfriend here keeps you out of trouble. Why else would she have called to check in on you?"

Harry flipped him off as he continued to walk away and Sirius shook his head in amusement. At the top of the hill, Harry gave one last wave before turning to walk past where he knew the camp protections were. "Don't forget to owl!" Sirius gave one last shout as his godson vanished from view. He remained there staring at the hill, empty save for the lone pine tree, something he now knew so much more about. His mind couldn't help but wander over the day his world had shifted from simply magical to something so much more.

* * *

Sirius Black shivered in his cell as the wind howled by around him. Apart from the Dementor's aura itself, it was as if the very stones of Azkaban Prison were draining the life from him. Everything around him seemed grey, as if all colour had been sucked out of the world. Despite that, he couldn't find the energy to care.

James was dead. Lily was dead. Harry was merlin-knows-where, and it was all because of him. It was all his fault. He was the one who'd convinced them to make Peter their Secret Keeper. He was the one that thought that their quiet, meek little friend had no chance of betraying them, no chance of even being discovered as the Secret Keeper. Peter had always been a lousy wizard. The only reason he hadn't flunked out of Hogwarts had been Sirius, James, and Remus' help. Who in their right mind would suspect him of being entrusted with the key to the Potters' safety? In the end, the rouse hadn't even been needed. Peter hadn't been found out. He hadn't been captured and tortured for the information; he'd just gone and willingly gave it up.

It was because of all that, that Sirius was sure his current situation was some sort of divine punishment. He didn't even believe in any higher powers, but he was sure there was something out there making sure he was punished for what he had caused. All of a sudden, his vision began to darken, the cold that had been slowly seeping into his bones now felt like he was freezing solid, and the images of all the horrible things he had ever seen pressed to the forefront of his mind.

On some level, Sirius was aware of the dementor that floated at the door of his cell, and the great rattling breaths that it took, but his conscious mind was more focused on visions of his dead friends. He could see James broken form as if it were still right before him. He could see Lily's empty shell sprawled in front of Harry's crib, one last defiant action at the end of her life to defend her son. He could remember the feeling of leaving Harry, the only thing he had left, with Hagrid so could go avenge his friends. He could see all the times where his mother had abused him as a child when he refused to give into her beliefs about blood purity. He could see his poor younger brother suffering under the same onslaught, before giving in joining her. It was because of all this that he didn't notice a difference right away.

Despite it being that last thing he expected to see in such a cold and dreary place, a flash of fire erupted outside his cell, making Sirius blink in confusion. Struggling to his feat with his already weakened body, he winced as a horrible sound pierced his ars. It was an inhuman shriek that grated against his ears and made his very soul tremble. As the sound died away, he noted that the Dementor outside his door seemed to be retreating. To his shock, a great blast fire appeared once again impacting the Dementor. He clamped his hands over his ears as a similar sound started up while the Dementor burned to ash in front of his very eyes. It didn't make any sense. Dementors were supposed to be unkillable.

Sagging against the far wall, Sirius tried to figure out what was going on. He could just make out the sight of a giant black writhing cloud moving away from the prison. It took him a minute to realize that they were the fleeing forms of the abominations Azkaban called prison guards. What the bloody hell could make Dementors of all things that scared. All he knew was that it was something he did not want to meet.

The clacking of footsteps on stone sounded outside his cell making the newest Azkaban inmate flinch. Whoever was approaching his cell would have been the one who had incinerated that Dementor. Hearing it grow louder, Sirius did his best to remain absolutely still. A small light could be seen just outside his door, and as the footsteps approached, so did the light grow brighter, and the air warmer.

Stopping just outside the iron bars that separated him from his freedom, Sirius' eyes widened as he took in the source of the light. It was a little girl. She wore a brown cloak, a lighter shade of the same colour that was her hair. What unnerved him about the sight, apart from knowing she was the one to have dealt with the Dementors, was the way her eyes seemed to glow with restrained power, and how the source of light he had been seeing was a ball of flame hovering in her bare palm. Observing him for only a second, the lock disengaged and the door seemed to swing open of its own accord.

Now Sirius was a pureblood wizard, raised since birth around a family that used magic. He was used to the kinds of stuff magic could do, but some reason seeing the door unlock and open like that on its own creeped him out. She hadn't flinched, shown any indication of speaking a spell, waving a wand, or even a hand. Deep in his bones, he felt that he was dealing with something far more powerful than he ever had before.

Crossing the threshold of the cell, the room was suddenly bathed in a warm light that was matched to the actual temperature a moment later. Both the constant sound of the waves as well as the wails of the other prisoners faded away. Against his better judgment, Sirius felt himself relax ever so slightly. His cell was suddenly feeling much more comfortable and homey.

He watched her wearily as she approached, "Who... or rather what are you? A witch couldn't have done all this."

The girl's face sported a look of confusion for less than a second before her lips parted in an 'o.'

"Oh," she replied. "I can't believe I'd already forgotten."

Taking a step back, the girl's form began to change. It looked to Sirius as if she had suddenly just blurred out of existence, the general shape still visible, as she grew taller and more defined. A moment later, she faded back into view, and Sirius felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Lily?" The woman that stood before him now looked identical to his best friend's dead wife, except for the still glowing eyes. Even that, a moment later, faded back to a familiar green.

"Hello Sirius," she said with a smile.

"B-b-but you're dead! You died!" He stuttered, pressing himself further against the wall behind him.

Lily's brow furrowed into a familiar expression that she usually wore when thinking. "You're right… in a way… but also not at the same time."

"What? That d-doesn't make any sense!"

"It's a complicated situation," she said with a sigh. "I did die… and yet, I also did not. As you can see, I am right here before you, perfectly alive, even if I am not alive in the same way that you are. What you need to understand, Sirius, is that it is me. It's really Lily."

Despite the strangeness of the situation, Sirius could feel a spark of hope in his chest, "and James?"

Lily looked down at towards the ground.

"Oh… I see," he muttered, all his hopes coming crashing back down. He stood there for a moment, trying to organize his rampaging thoughts, much easier now that the Dementors had backed off but still hard under the circumstances. "I… I still don't understand what's going on around here."

"Sirius," she said, her voice calm, "What do you know about the gods?"

"The gods…" he repeated slowly. What was she talking about?

Before he could contemplate her question any further, he was distracted as Lily's head jerked to look towards the one wall of his cell. She continued to look that way for a moment before turning back towards him.

"The explanation will have to wait until you are somewhere safe. I need to get you out of here."

"You're breaking me out?" He asked, shocked. "What about my trial. Won't this reflect badly on me?"

"Barty Crouch Sr. has already sentenced you to life in Azkaban without a trial. Why did you think you were already here instead of a Ministry holding cell?"

"Life in Azkaban?" Sirius asked blankly, feeling his legs tremble. He'd only been in here a day, maybe two… he couldn't really tell... how would he survive the rest of his life here?

"That's why I'm getting you out now," she said. "Harry will need you, Sirius."

That managed to snap him into movement, as Sirius shuffled away from the wall. He watched Lily, still feeling confused, but noticing where she was looking. Glancing back over his shoulder himself, he gasped as he saw a giant stone fireplace forming out of the cell wall. A snap of her fingers had green flames bursting into being.

"Is that a floo? Sirius asked faintly.

"It is!" She said happily. "Despite some of your faults, you wizards are some of the only ones who really still use the hearth to its full potential."

"You want me to just floo out of Azkaban?" He asked incredulously. She nodded. "And what address am I going to?"

"Don't worry. This floo is special. Just step in, and it will take you where you need to go."

"Ok…" Sirius muttered approaching the newly formed fireplace, and it's burning emerald flames.

He wasn't really sure if this was a good idea or not. It could all be a trick for all he knew. He hadn't even had this so-called Lily prove who she was yet. He had seen her dead body only a day or two before. Everyone knew people couldn't return from the dead. This must be a trick… or the Dementors were already driving him insane.

He suddenly heard shouts in the distance. It seemed like the human guards were coming to investigate, they could even be bringing Aurors with them. His only choices were to stay here to greet them and rot for the rest of his life or trust that he really was talking to a living, breathing Lily Potter. It seemed it was really no choice at all. Stepping into the flames, he was happy to feel them tickle his ankles without pain. It seemed this really was a Floo after all. Suddenly, without warning, Sirius felt the world start to spin around him. Fireplace grate by fireplace grate passed him by as he flew through the floo network not knowing where he was going, until just as suddenly as it had all started, his trip jerked to a stop and he was sent sprawling across an unknown floor.

Crawling up onto his feet in an unfamiliar room, Sirius came face to face, once again, with the woman claiming to be Lily Potter. He wasn't sure how she had beaten him here but it was just one more of the unexplained occurrences.

"Where are we?" he asked, while coughing away any inhaled soot.

"Your new home in the state of New York," she said, spreading her arms wide.

Sirius' eyes widened, "What? New York? As in the United States?"

She nodded, "That's correct."

"Why… I don't understand."

Lily smiled, her eyes suddenly seeming to burn with green fire, "You will soon. I have much to tell you Sirius."

* * *

Sirius Black strode down the sidewalks of New York city with a sense of nervous anticipation. He still couldn't believe he was about to do what he was about to do. In a way, it was almost like pulling off a massive prank, but instead of his old victims of fellow Hogwarts classmates, his new victims were on a much higher level. Looking upward, he glanced at the Woolworth Building before him. It was a much more imposing sight from the outside than the Ministry of Magic ever was.

Crossing the street from the small park in front of New York City Hall, Sirius couldn't help himself from glancing to the right in the distance where he knew the Empire State sat. Snorting to himself, he shook his head. He didn't have time to dwell on what Lily, or rather Hestia, had explained to him over the past few days. The new and crazy world he'd been brought into. Suddenly, all their fears over Voldemort didn't seem quite as significant anymore.

Standing on the sidewalk before his destination, he hesitated only a second, before moving forward. Waving his wand, which Hestia had somehow gotten back for him, over the small engraved owl, he pushed through the rapidly moving rotating door and into a grand lobby.

Taking in the grandeur that was the government headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States, Sirius was impressed. The ceiling above him seemed to almost stretch on forever, though he'd been told that it was about 700 feet high. Shaking away his shock, he continued to move across the hall, dodging through small groups of witches and wizards who were standing around talking in serious tones. Many held newspapers, the front page clearly visible along with its headline, 'MASS MURDERER SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES BRITISH MINISTRY PRISON - AZKABAN.'

He quickened his pace even though he knew that no one should recognize him. Hestia had manipulated something called the mist that she said would hide him until it was time to unveil his presence. Approaching an information desk, Sirius stopped. The receptionist continued working on a pile of paperwork without showing signs of stopping, causing him to clear his throat.

"Yes?" She doesn't look up from her work.

Feeling a little underwhelmed by their customer service, he proceeds on anyway, "I'm looking for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Fourth floor. Elevator is behind me to your right," she responds, still engrossed in her former task.

Looking where she indicated and spotting the lift, Sirius begins to head that way, "Thanks."

Following the rest of her directions, he soon finds himself in a much busier department. The room is crammed with numerous cubicles, and the walls were covered by wanted posters. The workers themselves were either working away on paperwork like the receptionist before or standing around discussing the article about him in the paper as well. They sure knew how to make a guy feel important.

Approaching the front desk here as well, he found the young man manning it. While he wasn't doing any work, he was engrossed in a novel. How much free time did this kid have while he was supposed to be working anyway?

Before he could ask a question, the man spoke up in a bored tone of voice, "Place your wand on the register."

Seeing the odd contraption before him, he did as he was requested. It made a few strange cranking noises and let out a puff of smoke that had him itching to snatch his wand back before finally releasing a short piece of paper which the boy grabbed.

"Thank you, sir." This guy really didn't sound like he wanted to be there. Next time they should really choose someone with personality to be a greeter. "How may the Department of Magical Law Enforcement assist you today."

Steeling his nerves, and pushing back his shoulders Sirius prepared himself. "My name Sirius Black and I am here to request Asylum from the Magical Congress of the United States." His voice was loud enough for the whole department to hear and Sirius knew the mist surrounding him was dispersing as it was supposed to when triggers by this event. "The British Ministry of Magic sentenced me to life in prison without a fair trial for a crime I didn't commit."

There was a moment of silence. All the staff, hit-wizards, Aurors, and other MACUSA staff stared at Sirius in shock. A few seconds later, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Sirius sighed, leaning against his bike, as those memories replayed in his mind. At the time, it had been scary beyond belief. He'd been arrested, then questioned relentlessly until his claims were proven true. The British Ministry of Magic wanted him back and with their request for extradition failed, they had sent others to take care of him. It had been a tense time between the two countries, especially after MACUSA had officially agreed to grant him asylum.

They attempted a few more underhand dealings to get their hands on him, but once the ICW finally stepped in, ruling for his innocence, things had calmed down, not that he was welcome back in the UK any longer. When Harry's choice of school had come out publicly, the tensions had only gotten worse. Nowadays, with things calmed down, Sirius liked to think about it all as one big prank well played, the whole of wizarding Britain in his crosshairs, but he'd never forget how hard things had been back then.

Seeing the sun continuing to go down, he finally climbed back on his bike and brought it to life. With one last glance at Half-Blood Hill where Harry had disappeared to a while earlier, he revved his engine and pulled out onto the highway. He was heading back home. Hopefully, he'd be able to see his godson again soon.

* * *

As Harry crossed the camp border, he kept his eyes peeled for his raven-haired friend. When she had Iris messaged him on the beach, he could sense that something was very wrong. She seemed even more on edge than normal, distracted and tense. He almost regretted telling her about the prophecy the day before, but she was so insistent in knowing what was going on. He knew full well what it felt like to be left in the dark, to have eyes always on him for something he had no control over, and didn't even know about.

At least he knew why though. That was one thing he had always been thankful to his mother and Sirius for. At no point in his life did he not know exactly who he was. It was one of the reasons he was so comfortable in his own skin as he'd never had to pretend he was something he wasn't.

It still weighed on him though, and the first few weeks after he learned about his own prophecy, he had been a wreck. It was only through his surrogate mother, Jen, that he managed to get through it. Sirius tried his best, but he wasn't always around. He helped when he was available though, taking his mind off things as only he really knew how to do. His actual mother had also helped as much as she could, visiting him in secret, much more often than most demigods got to interact with their godly parent, but that still only amounted to so much.

Working his way around camp, he saw multiple people training, the sound of metal clanging on metal filling the air mixed with grunts of exertion. The air was slightly cooler now, as the day was nearing its latter stages, afternoon drifting into evening as the sun drew lower in the sky. He could see the Apollo campers practicing their archery, the steady thud of arrows in straw beating in the background with a steady percussive sound. As Harry made his way around the camp, he finally found her.

She was furiously hacking away at one of the practice dummies in the yard, spear in hand, jabbing at it like a woman possessed. Her eyes were furrowed in intense concentration, and sweat was dripping from her brow. It made his heart wretch to see this, as it was like looking at a mirror of his childhood. She kept making loud noises of exertion, mixed with growls and shouts.

He slowly made his way towards her, being careful not to be noticed at first. As he got closer he noticed various cuts on her arm, and the way she was holding her weapon, almost carelessly hammering the training dummy. If it had been a real person, it would have been cut to ribbons by now. Deciding he needed to stop this, he made himself known.

"Thalia," he called. She didn't seem to hear him, however, and kept her furious onslaught going.

"Thalia," he called again, edging slightly closer and raising his voice slightly. When she didn't reply again, he decided he needed a more direct approach.

"Thalia!" he shouted sharply.

To this she paused, finally stopping her activity. She turned away from the dummy and faced Harry directly. Now he was closer he could see she looked like hell. Her hair was all over the place, even more erratic than it sat normally. He could see tear tracks on her face like she had been crying. Perhaps the most noticeable thing however was her eyes. They had lost all life they had before, those blue orbs looking almost past Harry like he wasn't there.

"...I'm busy Harry. We'll talk later," Thalia said in a faraway voice like she wasn't talking to him and was merely talking to the air.

"Thalia you're going to hurt yourself," Harry said, gesturing to her cuts and shaking arms. It was like she had been swinging that spear for hours. Harry was surprised he hadn't noticed anything on the Iris call. Maybe she hadn't been as bad earlier. Maybe she was just hiding it better then. Now though, she looked like she was going to drop.

"I'll be fine," She said, brushing Harry off.

"You don't look fine," Harry pressed.

"Well I am so please go away," she said, irritation starting to show. She started to look at him a little more confrontationally, widening her stance as if she was anticipating a fight.

"No," Harry said flatly.

"No?" she replied almost threateningly, before repeating herself, "No… I have to train. I have to-"

She cut herself off, quickly turning away to face the training dummy once more.

Harry interrupted her before she could brush him off, "Thalia you look exhausted. Go get some ret. You're done for today." His tone held a note finality.

"Don't tell me what to do," Thalia snapped angrily, the wind starting to pick up in response to her temper.

"Thalia, I know what you're going through-" Harry started.

"How could you possibly know?" Thalia shouted, cutting through Harry's platitude, facing him again before continuing with a distraught expression.

"I've been asleep for years! Now I get back only to find that there is some bullshit prophecy made about me. Now, I'm apparently some kind of hero that's going to either save or destroy Olympus. I have to walk around this camp every day knowing that nobody really accepts me. That everyone thinks I'm some kind of time bomb that could explode and turn bad at any moment, that I could turn out like Luke! Now I have to live here every day knowing that even the gods don't want me alive. Do you have any idea how that feels? To know that your own father turned you into a tree not because he wanted to save you but to avoid some stupid prophecy. I know he could have saved me, he's a freaking god. I don't buy into this noninterference crap," she cried, her voice wracked with pain.

"Thalia…" Harry tried again with a gentle voice, but she ignored him.

"He interfered with my life the moment I was conceived," she finished in a hollow voice.

She looked so broken right now, so small. It was a far sight different from what he had witnessed a day earlier, a smile planted on her face as she gleefully tore through campers in that wonderful game of capture the flag. Gone was the carefree girl who would tease him about staring at her. Now she looked so lost, and it hurt. It tore him up inside to see her like this.

"Please just go… I need to train for my stupid destiny," she said almost petulantly.

"No… listen Thalia. I _do_ know how you feel-" Harry started

"No-" Thalia started, her face flushing with anger, but Harry didn't let her finish.

"I do! Just listen to me," Harry said quickly rushing to reassure her. "Put your spear away and just listen."

She stared him down, unmoving, but Harry met her gaze unflinching. He wasn't sure why but he just knew he couldn't be the first one to blink. After a minute, she finally did as he asked with a scowl, "What do you want?"

"Why don't you take a walk with me?" He asked, "I want to tell you a story."

"I don't want to hear a story," she said petulantly, but the fact that she had already stowed her weapon told him that she was already coming around and that this was more a token argument than actual resistance.

"You'll want to hear this one believe me. Will you please just listen? I can't let you do this to yourself. I promise if you don't like what I have to say you can go back to training just… I don't like seeing you like this. Please?"

"...Alright. Fine. But this better be good."

"First, let me deal with this," Harry said, pulling out his wand. Murmuring under his breath he was already holding it to her arms before she could protest.

"What are yo-" her delayed response petered out as she watched cuts and bruises on her arms fading away. "How'd you do that?"

"Healing magic," he explained. "I'm fairly good at it, but in serious cases nectar and ambrosia is still a better choice for demigods. At least this doesn't run the risk of burning you up."

"Wow…" she seemed somewhat distracted now, something he was happy to see.

"On to my story, I guess… as I told you before, I'm not originally from the U.S. I was born in Britain," he explained, continuing on when he'd got a nod from her. "Well, there was a secret civil war going on in the wizarding community at the time of my birth. It was bad… like really bad. There were new deaths reported every week, fighting breaking out in the streets, shopkeepers going missing. I can't speak from experience because I wasn't there but the stories my godfather has told me painted it as a horror show."

"I don't mean to be rude and all, that sounds awful, but how does this have anything to do with my prophecy," Thalia asked. They'd left the arena at this point and had started wandering slowly towards the lake. If her words and not so subtle glances back towards where they had just left were any indication, his distraction with the healing had already worn off, and he hadn't managed to hook her attention yet with his story.

"I'm getting to that," he responded with a frown. "Anyway like I said it was horrible. What was worse is that it was the equivalent of a race war. On one side you had the Death Eaters, dark witches, and wizards that believed that magic should only be taught to those of 'pureblood', those that could trace their magical line back several generations. They hated anyone they deemed impure, and in the case of those born to non-magical parents, they'd be outright hostile. 'Muggleborn' is the commonly accepted term over there, but Sirius told me that Death Eaters would often refer to them as 'Mudbloods.' Many muggleborns died or assaulted during the war, and those with no magic at all were seen as no more than animals."

"But that's stupid! Magic is magic, right? It's one thing taking pride in your heritage, but that's disgusting."

"I know. Believe me. My mortal mother was a muggleborn, so you'll find no argument from me.

"I thought you didn't know who your divine parent was? Does this mean it was your father?"

"Lily and James were my parents when I was a young child. Both are dead now. I think whoever it was gifted them a child and then disappeared again." Harry said quickly, feeling a slight stab of guilt for misleading her. At least he wasn't lying this time though. Lily was technically dead now, her temporary mortal body in the ground just like any other fallen mortal.

"I'm still not seeing how that relates to me though," Thalia said as they both stopped by the water's edge. Several campers were returning with canoes to shore now that the day was winding down.

"I said I'm getting there. Gods you're impatient," he groused. "It's a complicated situation, so I've got to explain the backstory. Otherwise, you won't understand."

"Fine, just hurry it up," she said crossing her arms.

Sighing Harry continued on, "So, in recap, there was a bad war. On one side there were Death Eaters, a group of blood purity fanatics who looked down on anyone they thought of as having lesser blood. This included magical creatures as well. Have you got that much?"

"I've got it," she said, rolling her eyes. "If this is you speeding up, I don't want to know what you consider slow.

Harry ignored her, "These Death Eaters were led by a dark wizard called Lord Voldemort. He was probably the most powerful dark wizard of our time. Almost no one could even hope to match him, and his mere name put fear into the hearts of many. Even now, years after he is gone, people still don't speak his name. Most people refer to him as 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.' Quite a mouthful, I know."

"That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard!" Thalia exclaimed. "Why would they ever rather say something like that? I know names of power, but it's not that prevalent with mortals as it is with gods."

"Sirius said this is due to a taboo that was placed on his name. It was some kind of spell. Whenever someone said it, Death Eaters would know where that person was, and it somehow compromised any magical defences around the person."

"Ok, that does sound a lot more like dealing with immortals now," Thalia contemplated. "You usually don't want to attract their attention by saying their name too much."

"Says the girl who calls her father by name all the time, only to insult him," Harry grumbled, causing her to stick her tongue out at him. "Anyway, after that Death Eater's would descend upon them, they'd usually kill them all, leaving no survivors. Women, children, it didn't matter to him. He was a monster, a complete juggernaut and nobody could stop him."

"He sounds awful…" She shivered, before confirming what he said, "children?"

"Children," Harry confirmed grimly. "He and his death eaters did things that make me sick to even think about. Most british wizards who lived during the war would probably tell you it was the scariest part of their lives."

"That's awful," she said, looking shocked, her face paling at the implications of what Harry said.

"It is. They say-"

"Wait!" She stopped him, her eyes going wide in sudden realization, "Is this the same dark lord you spoke about the other day? The wizard terrorist who was the one to…" She trailed off, looking mortified with what she had blurted out.

Harry shifted awkwardly, "Ya… he's the one."

"Oh…" she looked like she didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

He sighed, "It's fine." Feeling restless, he moved away from the water and moved towards the light of the big house.

"Why would he do that?" Thalia asked after a moment of following him in silence. "What kind of man would do all of this?"

"Who knows? Nobody seems to be able to understand why Voldemort thought the way he did. He was a psycho, plain and simple. He spouted all that blood purity nonsense and then killed entire pureblood families because they opposed him. He's responsible for more pureblood deaths than any other dark wizard in history."

"Sounds like a massive hypocrite," she commented.

Harry smiled bitterly, "He was."

Taking a moment to compose himself, Harry's face brightening slightly at the next topic, "On the other side, you had the Order of the Phoenix, led by Albus Dumbledore."

"Really? What is it with wizards and stupid names. Sirius, Voldemort, Albus?" Thalia asked.

"Eh… I never really thought about it like that. Here magical names are a lot more normal. I think it's because American's are a lot more strict about fitting in," he confessed. "Voldemort isn't even his real name, by the way. Nobody knows his real name. I think that's a small part of what makes him so scary to people. Nobody really knows anything about him."

"He chose that name!" Thalia exclaimed incredulously. "I just thought he had really unfortunate parents. Who _chooses_ to go by a name like that?"

Harry shook his head with a slight smile, feeling a bit amused of Thalia's critique of the darkest wizard in Britain's history. "I don't know, but I am sure the name is important. Like you said, who would willingly choose that as a name? It means it has some kind of unknown meaning, and that's something I'd like to figure out one day."

"A mystery, huh?" Thalia commented. "Maybe I should be calling you Sherlock Holmes instead of Gandalf."

Once again, Harry ignored her jibes. "There was also the Ministry Of Magic, the British magical government but they were even less as effective as you'd think. They were corrupt as hell since many Death Eaters, being of old and rich families, had infiltrated it quite easily. The Aurors, or rather Wizard police officers, were also not allowed to kill, even when their lives were at risk. It was a serious handicap as the death eaters would go straight to the worst curses imaginable. Dumbledore's Order was the resistance group, specifically created to oppose Voldemort and his forces."

"That's a good thing, right?" Thalia asked.

"It was, but it wasn't enough. The Order tried to what the government couldn't do. They skated on the edge of the law to save as many people as they could. They had spies everywhere. They saved so many people's lives, often arriving in the nick of time, but still they were losing." Harry sighed. "That was even after I heard they had an information network that let them know when some attacks were going to happen before they happened. They were the heroes of the war really. Dumbledore was everything in a leader that Voldemort wasn't. Calm, enigmatic and compassionate, he is the epitome of a wise old man. He is perhaps the only person alive that knows more about magic than Voldemort. He might not be more powerful, but he has a mind like no other."

"Sounds like you really admire the man."

"I do… if there was anyone you could call _Gandalf_ it was him," he said with a teasing smirk, before adding, "He's even got the white beard and all."

"Nice try _Gandalf_ ," she teased. "You're not escaping your nickname that easily." She paused, "He does sound quite impressive though."

"He's not without his faults, which I will come to in a minute, but he was just what the good guys needed. His order still couldn't kill their opponents, as while they could get away with a lot, murder wasn't one of them. They still made an immense difference."

"Yes… but I find it shocking that the only real opposition this Voldemort had was essentially a vigilante group," she said. "Really goes to show how effective this magical government you were talking about was."

Harry chuckled, "Sirius has told me horror stories about the Ministry's incompetence. The order is the only reason Voldemort still hadn't won at that point. My mortal parents were members themselves. I've been told about how brave they were, fighting for our country's freedom. The Order knew that if Voldemort had succeeded, he would soon turn his attention to the muggle world next, and then most likely the rest of the world. Nobody was safe from him. I'm so proud to have their surname. They were heroes…"

"Your godfather is right Harry," she said. "You should be proud of them. There is a reason not all the heroes from Greek mythology were demigods. Sometimes all it takes is the bravery of single mortal to change the course of history. It's something I think the gods forget sometime." Her expression turned bitter once again, so Harry tried to change the subject quickly.

"When I was born apparently my parents were ecstatic. Well, that's what Sirius said anyway. They were finally having a baby. In a time filled with so much darkness, they finally had something to be happy about. Sirius has told me so many stories of how happy they were, and how they planned to give me the best start possible," Well Hestia did as well, but he couldn't tell Thalia that.

Thalia smiled, "That sounds nice. They sound like good people."

Harry nodded, "I was born on July 31st, 1993. My family... they loved me. I just wish... never mind."

"Are you ok?" Thalia said, placing her hand comfortingly over Harry's. Harry could see the concern in her eyes and felt touched by her gesture.

"It's ok...I… I'm past it now. It's just really hard talking about," he looked down. "I'm getting to the end now anyway. So they were happy, and were just starting a family when the worst thing imaginable happened."

"Oh! I'm so-" She began only to be cut off.

"No... well yes, you're right but not quite yet," Harry explained. "Dumbledore came to their house and informed them that Voldemort was now targeting them directly and they needed to go into hiding. He offered to lend them the use of a property he owned in a small wizarding town called Godric's Hollow. I won't bore you with the details, but we were under a kind of magical cloaking spell, the only people able to find them being those that have already been told the location. Someone could be looking directly at the house and not know it was there unless told by the person designated as the Secret Keeper."

"A secret keeper?" Thalia wasn't getting all the terminology, but that only made sense. She didn't have any magical education. It just meant he had to explain a bit more.

"Yes. The only person who can tell others the location of the house. You could have lived there for decades, and if, after the enchantment was cast, the Secret Keeper hadn't told you where the house was, you would completely forget where you lived. You could be standing right in front of it, and you wouldn't know."

"Wow... that's... that's really cool," having momentarily forgotten her own woes, Thalia's eyes were shining. It warmed his own heart a bit too, knowing she that she seemed to have a true appreciation of magic.

"It is." Harry smiled. "It was almost foolproof in fact."

"What happened?" She asked, suddenly sounding weary.

"Pettigrew" Harry spat, so angrily that Thalia flinched back for a second, removing her warm hand from Harry's.

"Pettigrew?" Thalia said inquisitively.

Harry nodded, his eyes sharp. Thalia could have sworn she could see flames in them for a split second.

"Originally, the secret keeper was going to be Sirius. He was the obvious choice. He was my father's best friend and the most loyal man you would ever meet. Still is. Even now he takes his job as godfather very seriously." Harry said with conviction.

"Ha!" She snorted. Sirius is seri-"

"Please don't." Harry groaned. "That pun has been done to death. Please… just don't."

"Sorry," she said.

"No you're not," he responded, unable to hide his own amused grin.

"Nope," she said happily, popping the 'P' and smiling at Harry in a teasing manner. It was nice to see her smiling again, but Harry needed to press on with the story, even if this was the part he hated to tell the most.

"Sirius was all set to be the secret keeper, but when my father offered him the job, he refused. He convinced my parents that Peter, their other friend, should take the responsibility as Sirius himself would be too obvious a choice." Harry explained.

"Why?" Thalia asked sounding confused. "That seems strange."

"Not really. It made sense, really." He continued, "Sirius was an Auror, and would be out in the field fighting Death Eaters every day. He could be captured at any time and tortured into giving away the information. He was loyal to a fault, but there is a curse called the Cruciatus curse that can cause almost unimaginable pain possible. I've heard there are also even more unpleasant spells that dark wizards use. Sirius refused to talk about them, but I know they exist."

"That makes sense," Thalia said darkly. "Mortals often seem to end up being even more twisted than some of the monsters we face. It doesn't surprise me they would design spells like that."

Harry nodded, knowing what she said was true, "So they changed their mind at the last minute, and made Peter Pettigrew the Secret Keeper. They had another friend Remus, but he was under a lot of suspicion. He was a werewolf you see, and many werewolves had sided with Voldemort during the way. I never understood why. He hated creatures like I said... I still wonder what would have happened if he had been the secret keeper instead."

"A werewolf?" Thalia said alarmed. "Aren't they considered monsters?"

"You're thinking about Lycanthropes," Harry said. "They have commonly been referred to as werewolves throughout history, but they're not the same ones that I'm referring to. Lycanthropes are monsters. They are all descendants of Lycaon, who only gained his powers after your father cursed him that way."

"Oh great, another problem for us demigods created by daddy-dearest," Thalia snarked.

Harry smirked, "He did have good reason in this instance. Lycaon tried to trick your dad into eating human flesh." Thalia wrinkled her nose. "After being cursed, he and his descendants gained the power to shapeshift into a wolf at will and can only be killed by silver. Celestial Bronze passes right through them… just like a regular mortal."

"What about these other Werewolves then?"

"They're an example of wizards going too far with magic," Harry grimaced. "Wizard-kind has forgotten this story by now, but the gods have not. There was a dark wizard centuries ago, I don't know his name, but he was trying to recreate what he considered to be the gifts that your father gave to Lycaon." He headed off Thalia's interruption, "I know… he was pretty twisted. He experimented on both wizards and mortals alike. He was never completely successful in his goal, but he did come close. These other werewolves are still considered mortals and are much closer to the urban legends commonly known today than Lycaon ever was. They have enhanced strength and senses like their creator wanted, but their transformations are out of control. They can only shift over to a wolf on the night of the full moon, and they have no control over themselves during this time. Even their wolf form is corrupted, more humanoid than a real wolf. Their instincts send them to seek out other humans, where, when bitten, they become werewolves themselves. These werewolves are especially weak to silver but can be killed by any mundane means, unlike Lycanthropes."

Thalia pulled a face of disgust, "I can't believe someone would willingly create that."

"Just like you said, some humans are more monstrous than monsters themselves," he said. "As for my parents' friend, I've only met the man a few times. He seems like a decent bloke if a little self-depreciative."

"Self-depreciative?" She questioned.

"Seems being a werewolf in a world that sees them as monsters can be bad for his self-esteem," he ventured. "I feel for him, I do, but he needs to get some more self-confidence. Anyway, as it turned out, they placed their faith in the wrong person, and Peter betrayed everything my parents stood for. I hate him for what he did. He ruined my life and sold out my parents to Voldemort like their friendship meant nothing. As I told you yesterday, Voldemort came and murdered my family. In a single night, I lost everything. But somehow so did he."

"What? How?" She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"He… something happened that night. Something nobody can really explain." Harry paused. He hated talking about this part. "He killed both of my parents with what is known as the killing curse. It does exactly what it sounds like. It's a curse totally fueled by hate and kills anything it touches instantaneously. It's completely unblockable, even by magical means. This is why it was so shocking that I survived it"

"What?! He tried to kill you?" She looked horrified. "That's disgusting."

"Yeah...when I was first told how my parents died I was shocked as well. I was taken to camp immediately after by my divine parent and left with Chiron. He is perhaps the only person at camp that knows who my birth parent is and he won't tell anyone, not even me," Harry focused on keeping his face straight.

For some reason, he found it much more difficult to keep his mother's secret from her. He felt like he was betraying her trust by lying to her or something. He was already sharing so much, what was entrusting one more little secret to her really? No! He couldn't. Not yet. Telling her now would be betraying his mother, and he'd never do that.

"That must suck. He really won't tell you? Isn't it your right to know? I would have gone and made him by now!" Thalia growled, looking towards the big house nearby. It appeared like she was about to go march inside to do just that on his behalf. This was something he wished to avoid, so Harry guided her away from the building and more towards Half-Blood Hill.

"There must be a good reason for why he hasn't," he reasoned. "Plus, I've made peace with it."

"You shouldn't have to," she replied, obviously frustrated.

"That's nice of you Thalia, but I'm fine with it. Really." ' _Especially since I know who she is anyway'_ was left unsaid.

"So anyway... yea, I survived the impossible… the unblockable curse. Nobody knows how. I'm supposedly a celebrity in the UK because of this." Harry told her with disgust evident in his voice. "All because one small child ended a decade-long war by surviving a murder attempt. Halloween is perhaps the most celebrated holiday in the wizarding world now, but for me, it's a time filled with sadness and torment. My parents died that night, and nobody seems to remember that other than Sirius and me. Most of the wizarding world see it as the end of the war."

"That's horrible!" Thalia was looking angry again, "It must really get to you seeing so many people celebrate the day your parents died."

"It really even gave me a moniker, the Boy-who-lived," he said in a semi-mocking voice, irritation starting to seep in audibly. "But I get it too. I really do. I understand why. The war was a time of such terror that many were just relieved that it was all finally over. They were just glad that the constant fear would stop."

"It's still not fair though," the daughter of Zeus countered, a hard glint in her eye.

"Of course not. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that life is hardly ever fair. I've been dealt a decent hand since then though. There are always other out there that have it much worse, so I can't really complain."

' _I have a mother that can't die after all'_ Harry thought.

Thalia seemed to be at a loss for words.

"For years I asked myself _why me_? Why did Voldemort choose to target my family that night? Half of wizarding Britain was his enemy so why did it have to my mum and dad that night?" Harry's voice grew louder, the desperation of his question easy for her to here.

Taking a breath as they arrived near Thalia's former tree, he continued on in a quieter voice, "It didn't make any sense to me. I asked my m- I mean Sirius, and he didn't have any ideas either. He just thought it was because he'd denied him one too many times, that they'd foiled one to many of his raids on muggles and muggleborns alike."

Thalia finally interjected at this point, "I'd be wondering the same thing. From the way you described it, there must have been something else going on, right?"

"Oh there was, there definitely was," he replied with a grim and bitter smile.

She looked at him expectantly, "So what was it?"

Harry observed her for a few seconds in silence before continuing on a seemingly random topic, "When I was 11 years-old, I got two letters. One of them was to Illvermorney, the magic school I go to now here in America. The other was for Hogwarts, the school my parents attended somewhere in Scotland. After a talk with Sirius, I decided to go to Illvermorney and sent a polite letter back to Hogwarts saying that I wouldn't be going to their school but thanking them for the offer."

"Makes sense." She said questioningly, "You live in the US now, so why would you go to a British school?"

"Exactly what I thought," he answered with a smile. "And all my friends are here, so it just didn't make sense to me. Not to mention I wanted to stay close to camp just in case."

Thalia nodded, "I get that, despite these protections your magic schools offer, I know personally how hard it is for a demigod to survive outside of camp." She paused for a moment, "This is all very interesting, Harry, but you still haven't got to the part that relates to me."

"I'm getting to it Thalia, don't worry. The story is nearly over," he said, holding in a bit of a chuckle. Despite being a bit annoyed with having to keep reassuring her of that fact, he was amused at how her actions were reminding him of a child continually asking their driving parent 'are we there yet?'

"Fine," she huffed motioning with her hands for him to continue.

"So choosing to attend Ilvermorney, Sirius had warned me that Dumbledore wanted to speak to me. Naturally, I was a bit confused seeing as I'd already made my decision. If I'm honest I was a bit annoyed. It was like he had no respect for my decision. Despite this, however, I decided to meet with him, with Sirius of course."

"What?" She asked surprised, "So even after saying no he still wouldn't accept it?"

"Exactly what I thought," he confirmed. "I hadn't even met the man, and I already didn't like him. Petty of me I know, but I was 11 years old, and I had spent enough time making this decision as it was. It was hard enough without anyone attempting to pull me back to Britain."

"It was your choice though," she insisted.

"Yes it was," Harry nodded. "So I decided to meet him. Obviously, he couldn't come to camp due to the wards, not that he knows about camp and what it is. I agreed to meet him at Sirius's place since that was close by. I was quite nervous as you can imagine. This was a man of huge reputation, and I was still young. I had no idea how to say no to him. I could tell Sirius wasn't happy. I think it's one of the few times I've ever seen him smoke. Don't tell him that either, seriously, he thinks I don't know he smokes when he's stressed."

"My lips are sealed. I've never met him anyway," she said.

"Hopefully one day you will," Harry commented idly, getting a surprised look from his friend.

"...Thanks," she said somewhat shyly, out of character for a girl who usually had such a confident front. She was truly touched that Harry wanted to introduce her to someone that was obviously this important to him.

"I must have paced Sirius's living room a dozen times before the doorbell rang. Sirius had quickly answered the door, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. We both knew that it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. Dumbledore was a person that was very used to getting his own way." Harry recounted, "Even with Sirius's descriptions it didn't do the man justice. He was a tall figure, towering well over 6 ft. he had a long silver beard, spectacles and probably some of the most garish robes I have ever seen in my life… like seriously, you would not believe what he was wearing. It was like he fell into a charity shop face first and then dressed in whatever clothes stuck. It's… hard to describe."

"He sounds eccentric?" She said. "I've heard many of the gods are like that too."

"If you want to put it politely, you could say that. It could be all an act for all I know. Dumbledore is a very hard person to figure out." Harry paused, lost in thought for a minute before Thalia cleared her throat.

Right, well he introduced himself and where he was from. He seemed very enthused to meet me. At the time I didn't really question it but looking back it was kind of creepy. He didn't take long to get down to business. He asked why I chose Illvermorney over Hogwarts, seeing as Hogwarts was the place my parents had enrolled me at birth. I told him the truth. I simply said it was too far away and that my friends were here. He replied that it was easy to get an international portkey and that I could make new friends at Hogwarts. He said, and a quote, 'it's what my parents would have wanted'. Like he could tell me what my parents would have wanted. Even Sirius got a little angry at that, telling him that my parents would have wanted me to be happy but Dumbledore was insistent, saying that I should be with my parents friends children, learning in ' _the greatest magical school in the world.'_ "

"Is it?" She asked looking intrigued.

"What?" Harry questioned in confusion.

"The greatest magical school magical school in the world," Thalia clarified.

"No, not by a long shot. Don't get me wrong; it's not bad. It's definitely in the top 10 and is even one of the oldest, but it's not the greatest. Makoutokoro in Japan is probably the best magical institution as it stands. I didn't know that then of course, but after the meeting, I decided to really research magical schools to make sure I was making the best decision. I could have gone there, but I decided it was too far away. Besides that only meant it had the greatest average marks. I could still learn just as well at Illvermorney."

"So he was lying," she said with a scowl.

"Not lying… Britain is very insular. It doesn't really look past its own borders a lot of the time. 30 or 40 years ago it actually was the best magical school. These days though, teaching standards are lacking, and the curriculum hasn't really moved on much. Plus some of the subjects I find the most interesting have been cut completely. It's still a very good school though don't get me wrong," he explained. "Beyond that, it's no different than any mortal school. All of them claim they are the best too. It's a statement that's always biased no matter what."

"I guess," she reluctantly admitted.

"So as I was saying, Dumbledore kept pushing for me to go to Hogwarts. When it was obvious he wasn't going to persuade me by mentioning my parents he tried a different tactic. He tried saying that in Britain I would be allowed to keep my wand over the holidays and practice magic. In the US you see I'm not allowed to bring my wand home"

"But you showed me magic yesterday," she said, her brow furrowed.

"I never said I listened to the rule, just that there is a rule," Harry said with a smirk, before continuing to speak nonchalantly. "The mist is a handy thing to use sometimes."

"Oh, I know."

"Use it on the run a lot?" Harry asked as gently as he could.

"Too many times," she said a dark look coming over her face.

"Anyway, it was around that time that Sirius and I got suspicious. This was the Headmaster of what he dubbed 'the greatest school' telling me I could break the law if I came to Britain. Even if I could keep my wand with me, I still knew that magic out of school underage was illegal unless I was of age, which by the way, is 17 in the magical world. So why was one of the most respected professors in the world telling me otherwise?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"That's actually a good question," she said.

"I asked him about that. He seemed uncomfortable, unwilling to answer. Sirius was ready to throw him out there and then. He was sick of Dumbledore continuing to try and convince me to come to Hogwarts without a proper reason why. We had been arguing for half an hour, and we had said 'no' so many times I lost count. So why was he so desperate to get me to Hogwarts. He said it's what my parents would have wanted but… I knew there was something else. Something he wasn't telling me"

"That must have been frustrating," she commented.

"You have no idea," he agreed. "It was nothing on the bombshell he dropped after though."

Thalia leaned forward, "What was it?"

"Reluctantly, Dumbledore eventually said that because of who I was, it would be a political disaster if I were to go any school but Hogwarts, and that I was important to the British wizarding world. I obviously knew I was a celebrity, even if it was for the wrong reasons. Sirius basically told him he didn't care and that the decision had been made. I really respected him for digging his heels in. I would have found it hard. Dumbledore had one of those presences that pretty much demanded obedience. It wasn't malevolent, he just had this kind of aura about him. I'm sure without Sirius there I would have eventually caved, but he held strong, matching Dumbledore blow for blow verbally as he ardently told him that no, I would not be attending Hogwarts and that this conversation was a waste of time. Dumbledore kept saying I was important, and that I should go to school in England, he pleaded almost begged. Sirius had had enough though, and pretty much told him to get out and that the conversation was over."

"What did he do?" To his amusement, it was obvious she was really getting into his story.

"Well… that's when it happened. The three words that would bring down my entire world in less than a few seconds. Just as we had told him to leave, he blurted out perhaps the most life changing sentence I've ever had. 'There's a prophecy'"

"Seriously?...a prophecy about you...how...I thought only demigods had them," Thalia said, her face paling and her eyes going wide.

"Oh no, magicals have them." Harry corrected her. "There is an entire area of the government dedicated to keeping prophecies safe and hidden. There are thousands upon thousands of them."

"And you're...my gods, I'm so sorry," she said.

"As you can imagine my godfather had gone pretty pale at Dumbledore's words. I didn't really understand what was going on at the time. Sirius practically demanded that he explain immediately. It was a sight to see. The great Albus Dumbledore being ripped apart by the infamous Sirius Black." Harry chuckled. "Joking aside, it was one of the worst conversations of my life. Dumbledore kept saying I wasn't ready, and that I shouldn't be burdened with such a thing. It was so patronizing that I wanted to strangle him with his own beard. No one can reveal that kind of information, and then try and hold out on the details after. He even tried to tell me it wasn't safe for me to know. Sirius almost threw a curse at him when he said that. In the end, he told me, though under a modified Fidelius so that the information couldn't be spread around. Even now I can't tell you exactly what it said. All I can tell you is that I have an almost impossible task ahead of me. Voldemort is going to be after me the rest of my life, and there is nothing I can do about it. We didn't even believe him at first. Sirius contacted the British Ministry and requested to view any prophecy related to me that they had on record. It took a bit of work since Sirius isn't on the best of terms with them, but we eventually got the confirmation we both needed and feared."

"That's awful Harry!" Thalia exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. You must have been terrified."

"I was... very. For months I couldn't sleep and barely ate anything. It was hell. True Hell. I looked worse than you. I was 11 years old, and I had just been told I had the most dangerous terrorist in the world, who was supposed to be dead by the way, after my blood and that he would continue to come after me for as long as we are both alive."

"I… I don't know what to say," Thalia said at a loss.

Harry smiled kindly, "You don't have to say anything, Thalia. The only point I was trying to make with this whole long story is that I _DO_ know what you are going through, and I think I have a pretty good idea what you're feeling. That being said, I promise you I'll be there for you through all of this, just like I know Sirius will be there for me when I need it. Everyone needs someone to depend on, so if you want, I can be that person."

Harry felt his ears heat up as he realized what he'd just said. His words hadn't quite sounded the same way coming out as they had in his head. Despite that, he didn't back down. He meant what he said, even if the whole situation felt a bit embarrassing.

Thalia stared at Harry in shock. She could not remember a time that anyone had ever said something that nice to her. Even her own blood had never offered such a thing. It warmed her heart that there was someone that she could truly confide in and it made her feel ashamed of the way she had acted towards him before. He was only trying to help, and she had nearly thrown it back in his face.

She didn't really know how to react so she just settled for a mumbled, "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm your friend. It's what friends are for. Nobody deserves to feel alone in their suffering. I promise we will get through this," he said emphatically. "I don't care if it's 3 in the morning, come find me if you need someone to talk to. I promise I won't be angry. A little groggy maybe but not angry," he teased.

"Thank you." She repeated looking downward, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry about the way I acted before. It's just so frustrating. I'm getting glared at by half the camp and pitied by the other. I just want to live my life."

"I know." Harry said warmly. Then something unexpected happened, surprising him. Thalia stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry in a tight hug. It was out of character for someone who steered clear from any kind of affection. When she pulled away he could see her blushing slightly, doing almost anything to avoid meeting his eyes.

"I'll see you later… I'm going to shower," she said quickly, not meeting his eyes.

"Good cause you stink," Harry teased her again.

"Don't push it," she growled playfully. Internally he grinned, happy that his teasing had distracted her from her discomfort before.

With that, Thalia walked away, markedly more happy than when Harry began his tale. Harry had taken a huge weight off her shoulders. Oh, it was still there, but he'd lessened the burden, and given her someone that she could confide in when times got hard. She hated asking for help. She had never asked for it once when she was on the run. She had never asked for help when Furies overran her on the top of Half-Blood Hill. She had too much pride, too much overconfidence. Now though it was different and while it felt weird, it also gave her a warm feeling inside that she couldn't get rid of even if she wanted to.

At least now she wasn't alone. And that meant the world to her.


	5. Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 4: _Calm Before the Storm_**

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 _ **A/N:**_ _Hey Everyone. We're really sorry for the long break between now and the last update. Real life was pretty crazy for the both of us and while we try to keep ahead with our chapters, we got really stuck on one of the next ones and were dealing with some major writers block for a while. Things are finally moving forward once again now. We really hope you enjoy this chapter and we'll do our best to keep updates coming out at a reasonable pace. Thanks so much for all your support with the reviews, favorites, and follows. See you next time!_

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"There," Hannah said smugly, as she laid down 3 differently coloured cards, all sporting the number 2, in front of Harry. "Can you beat that?" The boy in question went to open his mouth, only to be cut off again by his younger sister-like figure. "Oh! I'm on my last card too! I know you'd call me out on that, if I didn't say it."

"Well, it is a rule," he said, failing to suppress his amused grin.

"Only you end up catching it every time!" She huffed cutely before sticking out her tongue in his direction.

"Good thing you remembered to call it then," Harry teased.

"Exactly!" Hannah exclaimed. "So… how are you going to get out it this time? You have way more cards than me!"

"Hm… I don't know," he trailed his fingers lightly over the cards in an attempt to give off an exaggerated wise and contemplative air.

"Ha!" The young demigod cheered. "I knew it! You're stuck! Nothing can stop me now!"'

"I don't know about that," Harry pulled a card out of his hand extremely slowly, all the while keeping eye contact with Hannah. "There just so happens to be a card out there that could stop you."

"You don't," she said, her eyes widening and bottom lip starting to tremble.

"Oh, but I do," Harry smirked, slapping a black coloured card down on the pile. "Pick up four!"

"Nooooo!" She called her head falling down to the table dramatically in despair. "Why? Why would you do that? I was going to win."

He reached out and ruffled her red hair affectionately, "It's all part of the game."

Shaking his hand off like a dog would water from its fur, Hannah pouted as she claimed four new cards for her hand. "Let's see if I ever show you mercy in the future," she grumbled under her breath. "What colour are you making it?"

"How about… green," Harry said.

Hannah scowled, reaching to pick up another card.

"Oh?" Harry asked, "Someone must not have any gre-"

The creek of an opening door caught both of their attentions, distracting them from their game as they glanced across the room. A familiar black haired daughter of Zeus stood in the doorway looking a little startled.

"Hey Thalia," Harry greeted with a smile.

"Hi," she said back, though it was a bit more awkward than he was used to his friend being. "I… uhh… didn't know you and Hannah were hanging out. I'll come find you later."

She turned to leave, "Thalia!" Hannah called, "Please don't leave! Hang out with us."

Thalia turned back looking unsure, "I don't kno-"

"Please!" She begged. "You can make sure that Harry isn't cheating!

"Hey!" Harry twisted back around to look at his friend. "I resent that."

Ignoring him she continued on, "Come on… please!"

Feeling a bit curious, he glanced back at the other demigod. Spending a moment where her body seemed to literally be wavering in two different directions, Thalia's expression finally broke back into a more familiar grin.

"So… cards huh? Care to deal me in?" She asked, taking a seat next to Harry on his comfortable couch. Hannah was opposite him leaning down while a table full of different colour cards was laid out in front of them.

"Sure. I warn you though, Hannah gets really competitive. Last time we played the cards caught fire.

"Hey!" Hannah said indignantly, scowling at Harry cutely.

"I thought fire was your thing?" Thalia said amusedly.

"It is! I still have no idea how she did it." Harry said with a small laugh. Picking up the remaining cards in the deck, he quickly shuffled the deck and dealt Thalia 7 cards, being careful not to deal them in a way where he could see them. It was no fun cheating when most of the time he could win without it.

"So… how exactly do you play… what's this game called?" Thalia said tentatively.

"...you seriously asked to join a game you don't even know the rules to?" Harry said with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Hey! You don't really get many opportunities to play cards when your right arm has leaves growing out of it," she bit back, glaring at Harry as she looked through her cards.

"I'm sure I'll learn fast. When I was on the run with Annie and Luke, there wasn't really an awful lot of things to do other than hide. One night when we went through a small town, I saw a pack of cards in a shop. I know I shouldn't have… we were… you know… not really _meant_ to carry things that were not absolutely necessary for our survival but gods I was so bored. So I took it and at night we played cards. I'm pretty good at Texas Holdem and Bridge."

" _Bridge?_ That's an old ladies game!" Harry exclaimed to which Hannah giggled.

"Hey! You know what? Just get on with telling me the rules of the game I'm about to bury you in," She said with fire in her eyes.

And so Harry did. It didn't take long since UNO is a relatively simple game. Just matching colours and numbers with other action cards that were pretty obvious in their functions just by looking at them. Pretty soon they were playing the game, laughing and groaning as they acted like the kids they were. It was one of those rare times Harry could just let go, and for once Thalia didn't seem to be thinking about the prophecy hanging over her head. He noticed she was rather pretty when she wasn't glaring or scowling at him… the thought making him his pause as he tried to suss out where it had come from.

"So...how exactly did you two become friends?" Thalia asked after a while, throwing down a red card.

Harry looked up at her for a moment, trying to decide on how much to tell her. He needn't have worried though because Hannah answered for him.

"That's… not a nice story," there was a hardness to her voice in that moment that most wouldn't associate with the upbeat girl.

"Oh I'm sorr-"

"Don't apologize! I'm seriously sick of people apologizing whenever it's brought up!" Hannah snapped frustratedly. "Look it's obvious you are going to be an important person in Harry's life so you deserve an explanation."

Harry had been ready to jump in, concerned for his friend, but had paused, instead finding himself taken aback by her abrupt observation. He was also curious in what she meant by him and Thalia… he hoped Hannah hadn't got the wrong impression. They were just friends.

Uninterrupted by Harry, she continued on, "My childhood… wasn't the greatest. Sure it started great. I had an amazing family when I was young. From what I remember of them... they loved me very much I-" she said, visibly gulping in an effort to fight back tears.

Harry gently laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile to which she replied by grabbing his hand and giving it a small squeeze.

"-I had a great start to life. I remember being taken to the park whenever school was closed by my dad. He used to call me sunshine… my mother… she wasn't home an awful lot.

"Mother? Who's your divine-"

"Nobody knows. I don't think they cheated. I could see how much they loved each other. I think it's a lot like how Athena creates her kids… I really don't know. I've not been claimed that's for sure. I've been stuck in Hermes Cabin since I got here," Hannah said sadly.

"I'm sorry that must be rough," Thalia said sympathetically.

"It's not so bad. A lot of people look out for me there. I still stay here a lot though. I find Harry's cabin more homely," she said more cheerfully.

"Anyway that came to an end pretty quickly when I was 8. It was just a normal day. I had just come home from the local school. My dad was watching a kids show on the tv like he always did when I came home. I had no clue that there was anything different about me."

Hannah sighed, "Sure, as I look back on it, I guess there were hints about my heritage… what I now know to be monsters were always after me, but it wasn't until they actually caught up to me that I learned the truth." Her face hardened. "They descended on my house that day. It seems like the promise of fresh demigod flesh was enough to distract them from fighting each other and allowed them to work together. I can still remember the sound of them breaking into the house."

She shivered, and Harry had to hold himself back from comforting her as he saw Thalia already leaning in to do so with a sympathetic expression on her face. If there was anyone who could relate to her, it would be Thalia.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want," the black haired girl offered tentatively.

"No!" Hannah denied, suddenly sitting up straighter, "I need to be able to talk about it. It's in the past, and I can't let it hold me down anymore!"

Harry couldn't help but feel proud of her in that moment. He knew what kind of strength it took to face one's demons like that.

"Well… whenever you're ready then," Thalia offered. "I'll listen."

A surge of gratitude towards his new friend warmed his heart.

The little redhead took a deep breath as if trying to steady herself, "Thank you Thalia. I… well… my parents… I'm pretty sure they knew what was going on. It wasn't like they didn't panic or something, cause they did, but the way they were talking… the way they were planning, I'm sure they were somehow aware of the supernatural world. It all just makes me question who my godly parent really is all the more… not that I'm sure I even want to know anymore. What have they ever done to help me?"

"Trust me when I say that I know how you feel," Thalia said with a dark look. "My dad's idea of helping was leaving me as a tree for 6 years."

"It's not that I hate them… I just don't understand why they didn't do anything to help us. Shouldn't my parent care about me?" She asked in a small voice. "Chiron said the gods are forbidden from interfering too much though… so I'd like to assume that's why…"

"But what about your claiming?" Thalia protested, actually seeming more upset than Hannah herself. "Your mom or your dad, whoever it is, they shouldn't just leave you out to dry. Can't they spare even a moment to look down from Olympus and tell you who they are?"

She smiled sadly, "Chiron has also said that the gods always have their reasons."

Thalia scowled, "Chiron is great and all, but fuck the gods reasons and his explanations for them. He spends too much time kissing their asses and won't come out say what he actually should. They're shit parents and everybody knows it."

Harry blinked a few time, feeling a little taken aback while Hannah gasped beside him. He'd been quick to learn how sharp his friends tongue could be, but this was one of the more vulgar uses of language he'd seen from her. She even opened her mouth, looking to continue on, but he finally allowed himself to step in.

"Thalia…" he warned.

"What? It's true!" She said, "You should know that better than anyone! You've been here for, what? 12… 13 years? Your parent hasn't claimed you either. Do you really think that's right?"

Harry sighed, "No, it isn't right. I'd love nothing more than to know who my parent is." The more he had to tell this lie to her, the more effort it seemed to take, "That being said, I think I'd much prefer the gods be in power than some of the other alternatives there are out there."

Thalia seemed to almost visibly deflate in front of him, "I know. I just hate how us demigods seem to get the crappy end of the deal. Just enough god in us that we can't live comfortably among the mortals, too much mortal in us so that we can't join them on Olympus, and thus we are cast out of both worlds, drifting around like an all you can eat buffet for monsters that our parents have somehow pissed off in the past."

"That's why it's such a good thing that places like Camp Half Blood exist, now, I believe Hannah was continuing her story," Harry reminded them.

As much as he'd like to protect her from the horrors of her past, he was starting to agree that it was best thing for her was to confront it like she was. Leaving it all unfinished from Thalia getting them sidetracked could have opposite the effect he was intending.

Thalia's eyes widened, "Oh! Right, I forgot. I'm sorry Hannah. You were saying that you think your parents were supernaturally aware?"

The youngest girl nodded carefully, "I think so. They… they shoved me back into my bedroom as the house was overrun. I'm not sure what they were planning to do, but they didn't seem confused like you'd expect." Hannah paused, "I couldn't see what happened after that. The door was closed, but I could hear it. The snarling… the growls… my parents screams… but even worse was the silence after I stopped being able to hear them anymore. I was so scared. I couldn't even move. I was sure they were dead, and that any moment the monster that had killed them was going to come tearing through my bedroom door to get me too, but that never happened."

"What did happen?" Thalia questioned quietly. "It's seems strange for any monster to kill two mortals and then leave an undefended demigod untouched."

"They didn't leave. I'm not sure how long it was after it went quiet, but I heard their voices."

"Their voices?" Thalia questioned, glancing towards Harry for clarification, but he only his head back towards Hannah.

"My parents," she answered simply, drawing a gasp from Thalia. "I could hear them. They called to me, telling me to come to them. They told me that it was all safe, that the danger had passed, that it was a false alarm."

"No…"

"I think I knew it wasn't real… somehow despite knowing nothing about the gods. I knew it wasn't right, but I went anyway. I couldn't help it. I was so scared. I- I thought they were gone, so hearing their voices again… it meant everything to me."

Shifting his chair over to be closer to her, Harry reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. A gesture she returned with surprising strength for such a small girl.

"That's when I saw them. They… their bodies were on floor. I-" her breath hitched, as she gripped Harry's hand all the tighter. "And there was this thing standing there. I don't know what it was. At first I thought it was just a tall man, but it wasn't long before I realized that its beard wasn't a beard at all. It seemed to be made of living grass and vines. I had started to back away, and it just laughed at me with my mother's voice. It was only as it moved closer that I even noticed that the monster had giant hooves too and curved horns protruding from its head."

"But that doesn't sound like a cyclops!" Thalia blurted out before clamping her hand over her mouth.

"That's what we all thought too," Harry broke the momentary silence to offer. "It's one of the only monsters known for their ability to mimic people's voices like that, but as you already figured out the rest of Hannah's description doesn't fit with that of a Cyclops."

"Chiron doesn't even have any other ideas of what it could be," Hannah said quietly.

"What? Seriously?" Thalia asked.

"That's what he said," Harry confirmed.

"But shouldn't he of all people be able to tell you what this thing is? It seems strange that he has no ideas." The black haired demigod pushed.

"I don't know and I don't care," Hannah replied harshly, causing Harry to look at her with concern. "I'm going to find this thing one day on my own, and I'll kill it. I don't need Chiron's help."

"Hannah…" Harry started only to be cut off.

"No!" She exclaimed. "I'm going to do it. That thing murdered my parents. I'll never forget it. I may have thought it was a man at first, but I can still see its clammy pale skin reaching out towards me everytime I close my eyes. The way it's eyes glowed as it looked at me."

Hannah shivered again, but Harry was more concerned with what she had said. He knew her past had done a number on her, he'd been there to help her when she'd first arrived at camp, but he hadn't realized she was still dealing with so much to this day. The anger he heard in her voice worried him as it was so out of character for her. He'd have to keep his eye on her more carefully.

"So how did you get away then?" Thalia asked.

Hannah shrugged, "It was coming towards me and I just sort… lost it. My powers from my parent, whatever they may be, went out of control and the monster was blasted backwards out of the house. I was sent tumbling back into my room as well."

"You don't have any clues on your parent based off how your power manifested?" Thalia asked carefully.

"Not really," she shook her head. "I couldn't even tell what it was, and I wasn't really in a good state to pick up much on it."

"Her episode sounded a lot like the accidental magic that most wizards and witches go through as children," Harry added. "We looked into it as well. While Hannah does have a much larger affinity for the arcane than most demigods do, it's not in the same way a witch or wizard does. We suspected maybe she was a child of Hecate, but we haven't had any luck on proving that."

"What about after that though?" Thalia inquired. "Surely this monster would have tried again. You didn't kill it with that blast, right?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't remember much after that."

"She went into shock after that," Harry explained.

"All I remember is Jen saving me," Hannah contributed some more, a wistful look in her eyes. Harry's chest tightened as tried to keep himself centered. He tried not to talk about her, to think about her really. It was still too painful.

"Jen?" Thalia looked confused.

Harry's fist clenched. "Jennifer Briar. She... she…" He couldn't help it. Even after all this time, he still was getting choked up just mentioning her name. "She basically raised me. I was only a year old when I arrived here, remember? They needed someone to look after me, and Chiron didn't have time to babysit 24/7. So they got a camper that could do it."

"They actually trusted another camper to look after a kid?" Harry's new friend asked.

"It happens all the time, albeit not with someone as young as me," he admitted. "Jen was one of the oldest campers. She was 16 at the time. She even had plans to go to college, but she put them off for me since I was only 3 years old at the time. She was like my big sister… my mom really."

"Is she…?" Thalia asked whilst wincing.

"She's just missing," Harry bit out, feeling defensive.

"Oh?" Thalia perked up a bit, looking surprised. "I thought-"

"For three years," Hannah finished, also looking quite downtrodden.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that Harry," she offered and she really did sound sad about it.

"It's fine," he said tersely. "I know things don't look good, most demigods don't even make it to adulthood, but we don't know for sure that she… that she..." he trailed off.

Hannah was the one to stretch out her hand this time, laying it in his arm, causing Harry to jump.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke again, "I will find out… one day. I'll find out what happened."

Meeting her gaze, he was surprised to see a strange glint in her eye. An understanding seemed to pass between him and Hannah at that moment. He wasn't sure how, but she seemed to get what he was feeling. He knew she cared for Jen too, but not to the extent that she understood his burning need for answers.

"So, Jen found you as well?" Thalia's question broke him out of his contemplation.

Hannah nodded, "Like I said before, I don't remember much after… well… everything, but I do remember her. I was so alone… lost in everything that had happened, and suddenly she was standing above me… she looked like an angel. I didn't know what to think. I passed out sometime after that, and the next time I woke up, I was here at camp."

"Whatever the monster was, it was gone by the time Jen had arrived with a Satyr," Harry explained. "I remember when they got word of a possible demigod in Texas. There was a huge upswing in monster activity in the area, and that's why it wasn't safe for a Satyr to go on their own. Jen was 25 by that point, which is still one of the oldest demigod residents of Camp Half Blood in a long time. She was also one of the most powerful at the time."

"None of that explains why the monster just left you though," Thalia reminded them. "You said there were other monsters around too. It just seems strange."

"I was getting there," Harry chastised. "From what I heard, Jen found Hannah in her room, just like she remembered. They fought their way through a few weaker monsters on their way in, but the main one… it was nowhere to be seen."

"Ok…" Thalia leaned in.

"The next bit… well… I wasn't supposed to hear," he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I managed to listen in on Jen's report to Chiron. When they found her, she had looked around a bit… and well… supposedly the room was protected by kind of barrier. They found these strange runes around the perimeter."

"Runes?"

"Some magic can be done with Runes," Hannah piped up. "I looked into it a bit after Harry told me what he heard."

"It's true. Just like in this case, it's often used in defensive wards or enchanting," Harry added. "The strange part though is that she didn't recognize them. As you probably already know Thalia, us demigods are hardwired to be able to read Ancient Greek, but she didn't recognize this. It's strange."

"But where did it come from?" The daughter of Zeus, looking confused.

"Who knows," Hannah said. "My parents? My godly parent? There's no way for me to know, but there is of one thing I'm certain. If I ever get to meet my godly parent, they have a lot of questions to answer!"

"That's something I can get on board with!" Thalia cheered. "I've got some words I want to share with daddy dearest about my time as a pine tree as well."

"Sp," Harry decided to interrupt loudly. "Why don't we deal you in with us Thalia? Or are you too scared to play with the UNO veterans? I promise we'll go easy on you."

Just like he hoped, Thalia couldn't help but rise to his taunt. He'd been trying to distract her and it had worked. He was always nervous that he might someday be struck down just because he was in her vicinity when she went on insulting her dad like that, "Deal me in Hannah! How hard can this 'Uno' really be?"

An hour later, Thalia slumped down on the couch in defeat.

"I'm never playing that damned game again," she grumbled.

"I thought you said it would be easy?" Harry teased.

"Shut up!" She groused to Hannah's amusement. "It's just stupid. All those colours and weird rules. No proper card game works like that."

"Well, actually, it's pretty similar to Crazy Eights which is played with a regular card deck. It wouldn't surprise me if Uno was actually based on it."

"Ah! Whatever!" She exclaimed.

Harry just smirked as he looked to Hannah, "Are you good or do you want one more game?"

The short redhead hummed in thought for a second before grinning brightly, "I'm down for one more game, if Thalia is!" She smiled innocently, "We should give her another chance to practice don't you think."

He returned her grin, "I think that's a wonderful idea. What do you say Thalia?" There was no response. "Thalia? I know you're down about losing, but you shouldn't be _that_ depressed."

He turned around to face her.

"What is this?" The raven haired girl asked him seriously. Blinking for a moment, he looked at what she was holding out to him.

"The New York Ghost?" Harry asked. "It's a newspaper that the magicals over here in the US put out. I only get it to peruse for any big headlines. Haven't had a chance to check over today's issue yet."

"I meant this specifically," she said, while pointing to something on the page.

At first glance Harry didn't see anything of note. There didn't seem to be anything in the news that would be considered strange for the magical publication. Appearing to sense Harry's confusion, Thalia thrust her finger towards an article in the bottom corner of the page.

 _ **NEWT SCAMANDER TO APPEAL THUNDERBIRD BOUNTY**_

 _Celebrated author of book 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', Newt Scamander, now aged 115, will appear before MACUSA this coming Tuesday to appeal the recent decision to place a bounty on Thunderbirds in the state of Arizona. The situation that led to the controversial legislature has been the massive upswing in no-maj related encounters with the highly magical creatures. MACUSA has deemed them to be a significant threat the Statute of Secrecy, enough so to order their execution._

 _While bounty hunters from the world over rush in to take advantage of such a rare opportunity, just as many protests have also sprung into existence. The Native American communities being in the forefront of said protests, as the Thunderbird has long had a strong connection to their culture. The Headmistress of Illvermoney School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has even spoke out on the issue, seeing as how the Thunderbird is one of the school's four great houses. To the disappointment of many, MACUSA has yet to show any inclination to reverse their decision. The only real movement they've made on the issue was agreeing to allow Mr. Scamander to address the assembly._

 _Some may be surprised to know that this isn't the first time Mr. Scamander has dealt with this particular species of magical creature here in the United States. The famous magizoologist in question snuck a Thunderbird into the country back in 1926 during the rise of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Scamander was responsible for the initial capture of Grindelwald during this time though the resulting confrontation created the single largest breach of the Statute of Secrecy in the history of MACUSA. It was only quick thinking on Scamander's part that allowed him to perform a city-wide obliviation with the aid of the Thunderbird he had been smuggling._

 _It is this chapter in our nation's history that also makes the issue of this latest bounty all the much more distasteful. Will the famous author and magical creature rights activist be enough to change the minds of MACUSA? We'll have to wait and see._

Harry sighed as he finished reading the story, "I heard about this. They've been following the situation as it's evolved for weeks. Something's agitated the Thunderbirds and they're making quite a fuss. Of course, instead of trying to figure out what's causing the problem, MACUSA has decided to just execute them all! It's not a good situation."

"Not good? This is one of my father's sacred animals and he's not doing anything to help it!" Thalia exclaimed, her eyes wide in anger.

"Look I know you disl-"

"I know, I know but can't you see how horrible this is? These creatures are being hunted just for being an inconvenience to the stupid secrecy statue thing!"

"Statute of Secrecy," Harry corrected causing Thalia to give him a look.

"Whatever it's called then! The nerve of these people!" She shouted petulantly before sitting back down on the plump couch, throwing the newspaper to one side.

"America is… a little more opinionated when it comes to keeping magic a secret from the no-maj population than many of the other places around the world. I don't like it but there really is not an awful lot we can do. We're not even allowed to marry a no-maj over here. It's against the law and results in both parties having their memories wiped so that there is no urge to go back and try and undo the charm. It's strict as hell."

"That's disgusting," she spat.

"I know but that's the law." Harry said sadly, Hannah nodding along with him.

"They are being punished just for existing."

"Welcome to the wizarding world. It's not all wonder and magic. I'll be honest I try and keep away from it except when I'm at school. America's laws are considered quite antiquated."

"Er...what?"

"Old, Hannah. It means old-fashioned," he explained.

"Then just say that! No need to sound so formal all the time," said Hannah with a fond chuckle.

"Sorry… stupid History of Magic teacher makes us write like we are from 16th century." Harry grumbled. "Anyway, if it wasn't for my fame I'd go back to England but I really don't want to deal with that right now."

"There must be something we can do? Maybe…" she started before Harry interceded.

"What?" He asked calmly. "Sneak out of camp on some unsanctioned quest? Be real here, drawing MACUSA's ire is not a good idea."

"I don't know!" She exclaimed. "But, we can't just… just sit here doing nothing."

"I don't want to either, Thalia, but I really don't think there is anything we can do. Plus, you know how dangerous it can be for us to venture outside camp like that on our own," Harry said, Thalia scowling at his last remark.

The raven haired girl huffed in annoyance before sitting back down on the couch. "Fine."

The way Thalia wouldn't quite meet his eyes, put him a bit on guard. "Fine?"

"I get it, ok," she said. "It's too dangerous. I won't do anything stupid."

"Good," he answered simply, smiling somewhat wearily. "I know it sucks, and I also really wish I could stop even half of the stupid stuff that wizards have done to the world, but it just isn't a good idea for us to get involved with this."

Silence followed his statement, Thalia still not looking happy but luckily Hannah once again interceded to lighten the mood. "So are we going to play another game or not?"

Harry smiled fondly at her, "I'm game. Thalia?"

The demigod in question rolled her eyes, "Fine… but I won't lose this time!"

He couldn't hide his amused smirk, "We'll see."

* * *

Harry sighed as he stood looking over the beach, absently wiping some sweat off his brow. Taking out out his wand, he cast a quick cooling charm on himself. Sometimes he really loved magic. Unfortunately, it couldn't speed up the time he was wasting standing there waiting. He'd just been passing through the big house when Chiron had called out to him, and somehow wrangled him into coming down here to make sure that Cabin 10 actually made it out to their scheduled canoeing activity.

The children of aphrodite often times seemed to have an aversion to situations where they might get wet, possibly ruining their clothes and or makeup. It wasn't uncommon for them to try and find a way out of any activities out on the lake. That's why Chiron had him waiting here, to make sure they actually participated.

The denizens of Cabin 10 were already running a bit late, and Harry was starting to prepare himself to have to go knock on their door when it finally swung open of its own accord. Eyes widening, Harry gulped as the group of demigods streamed out towards the beach he was standing on. They were dressed for the water but that was exactly what was currently drawing his attention. Most campers used the standard bathing suit from the camp: trunks for the boys and a modest one piece for the girls. To his own unadmitted interest, the girls of Cabin 10 had used this opportunity to showcase their sense of fashion once again with a variety bikinis.

Mouth dry, Harry once again realized why the daughters of the goddess of love and lust were so popular with the male population of Camp Half-blood. A few waved cheerily to him as they passed, losing most of their smiles as they headed unwillingly towards the small water vessels they had been provided. He felt his own cheeks heat slightly at the sudden view of so much uncovered skin. The girls of Cabin 10 seemed to always have this well practiced sway to their hips that wasn't helping him either, and he found himself silently admiring all the curves they were displaying.

Finally reaching the edge of the water, the girls reluctantly began to work together to get the canoes into the water. Familiar black hair blowing in the wind caught his attention. He wasn't sure where he recognized it from. Squinting against the sun, he spotted the person in question was Silena Beauregard, the Cabin 10 head-counselor. She was a nice girl with a thin figure, long black hair, and blue eyes. He could admit that she was one the prettier girls in the camp, and he was sure many others would agree, not that anyone would make a move on her, seeing as how her and Charles Beckendorf had been attached to each other like glue for over a year.

Continuing to watch them, he felt his breath catch as Silena bent over to help push the last boat, his eyes trailing over her-

"Enjoying yourself?" A familiar voice spoke suddenly from behind him.

Harry would have liked to have said that he took the sudden comment in a calm manner that most definitely did not include letting out a loud girlish scream of surprise, but unfortunately that would have been a lie. "Thalia! What are you- Just don't- Ughhh..."

The daughter of Zeus laughed, "You're cute when you get all flustered like that."

"This is so not funny, Thalia," he finally managed to grind out.

"Oh no, trust me, it really is," she said, her smirk growing wider. "So… you like the Aphrodite girls, huh? Never figured you were for the mainstream shallow type."

"No! Well yes… sort of.." he tried, feeling off balance.

"Really? Which is it?"

"Of course I find them… well attractive," he mumbled, "but they... well…"

"...yes?" She asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"Well they aren't usually the sharpest knife in the drawer… if you catch my drift," Harry tried.

"Still doesn't stop you leering… who was it your were staring at… Drew? Lacy? Silena? Valentina? No, it was Silena wasn't it?"

Feeling his face flush in mortification, he shot back, "I'm surprised you even know her name!"

"I do talk to other campers you know," she responded, crossing her arms and scowling.

"Oh and here I thought I was special," Harry said with obvious mirth at being able to get back at her, even in such a small way.

Ignoring his comment, she went right back to teasing him, "Well, Silena is quite pretty, but she's also quite slim, so it probably wasn't her chest you were ogling."

"Thalia!" Harry exclaimed, starting to feel a bit scandalised.

"You must not be a boob guy then," she continued on as if commenting idly to herself about the weather. "At least I won't have to worry about you perving out on me then because I'm definitely bigger than Silena."

"I like boobs just fine, ok!" Harry's teeth clacked together audibly as he clamped his mouth shut. It had only taken him a second to realize what he'd just said out loud. Thalia wore a cheshire grin. "I mean… I don't… just shut up!"

"Why would I do that when we're finally getting to know each other so well!" She continued. "Anyway, if it isn't her boobs, maybe it was her a-"

"Thalia," he said warningly.

"Hair," she switched tracks last second. "What? I was going to say hair. She's got the longest hair of them all. Could that be it?"

If at all possible, Harry's face flushed even further red. Though it wasn't the first thing that came to mind when thinking about a girl, he couldn't deny he was attracted to girls with long hair, not that shorter hair was bad by any means. He resolutely was not looking at Thalia when he thought that last bit.

"It is, isn't it?" Thalia said with glee. It seemed that her comment had been a complete shot in the dark for her, and now he'd gone and given himself away. "Seems you have a type then?"

"Just how long were you standing there?" Harry asked, once again trying to push the attention off of himself.

"Long enough to see all your pervy looks," she replied. "What? Hoping to run your hands through their smooth locks while you-"

"Ok ok! Jeez you don't need to keep going into detail!" He protested. "Are you writing some kind of smutty novel or something?"

"Aha! Are you embarrassed?" She asked triumphantly.

"You're enjoying this far too much," he said, deciding not to rise to the bait anymore as he turned away.

"Harry," she called in exasperation. "Come back. I was just teasing. Geez."

He paused a few feet away, "I should let Chiron know Cabin 10 made it for their canoeing activity."

"Oh come on! I'm sorry, ok?" She said. "I was just having some fun."

He turned back, "I know and I'm not mad, but Chiron actually asked me to check up on them. I'm not just making an excuse. It's why I was here in the first place. For some reason, the only person who actually seems to enjoy canoeing is Percy."

"Well I can't speak for everyone else, but I think I know why he likes it," Thalia said with a snicker.

"That much is obvious," he replied deadpan. "I wasn't confused about that part."

Now, that Thalia had stopped poking fun of him, he was finally able to observe her fully. His eyes immediately went to an unfamiliar backpack she was holding in one hand. Seeing his gaze, she shifted it slightly behind her before hoisting it onto one shoulder.

"So what are you up to next, now that there are no more innocent maidens for you to spy on?" Thalia asked.

Harry knew a deflection when he saw one, and this coupled with her actions reeked of the fact she was trying to hide something. The box of granola bars sticking out the corner of the bag gave him a pretty good idea of what she was up to.

"Oh, not much." Harry said calmly. "I'll walk you back to cabin 1 though since I've got some time."

He had already traveled several feet towards his new destination before she got her wits about her and called after him, "Wait! You don't need to do that."

"It's no trouble," he called back in a jovial manner.

Thalia caught up to him a moment later, huffing slightly at the sudden change in pace, "I'm sure you're busy. You really don't have to walk me back."

Thalia was forcing a smile, but Harry could easily tell it was fake. She actually looked slightly panicked which only reaffirmed his suspicions. "My schedules all clear, so don't worry about it."

Entering the circle of cabins, he moved straight towards the big marble structure that was Cabin 1. "Wait up! You can't just enter another cabin like that. Aren't you worried my dad will… you know… kill you for that or something?"

"Nah, he's like literally the King of Olympus. I doubt he has time to waist of zapping me into oblivion just for entering his cabin," Harry said as he crossed the threshold. He didn't actually believe a word of what he was saying of course. Greek Mythology was full of stories of Zeus bringing down his divine wrath on those that had shown him the slightest of disrespect, but he couldn't let Thalia distract him.

Rounding the corner, Harry stopped and crossed his arms in wait as he saw what he had been suspecting he might. Thalia followed him in only a few seconds later, looking suddenly nervous. Meeting his eyes, it only took a moment for that expression to vanish as she squared her shoulders and looked at him defiantly.

"You're planning on leaving aren't you?" He asked.

"What if I am?" She didn't waver.

Harry sighed as he looked over her meager possessions laid out before him. Included were the few things she'd had on her person upon her return to human form as well as any other essentials Chiron had gotten for her. They looked like they were getting ready to be packed away.

"You're planning on to get involved with this whole Thunderbird nonsense, aren't you?" He tried to ignore how the marble bust of Zeus seemed to be drilling holes into him with its eyes.

Thalia hesitated for only a second before her composure broke, "Well someone has to something! I'm not letting one of my father's sacred animals be slaughtered like that!"

"I thought you didn't care about your father?" He asked feeling frustrated.

"I don't, and apparently he doesn't care about his sacred animals either, so I'm going to make sure that at least one person does!"

Harry sighed once again, as he rubbed his temples. He could already tell that he wouldn't be able to dissuade her from this.

"You won't be able to stop me!" She said, when he hadn't responded after a moment. "By the time you get to Chiron I'll already have left."

"I'm not going to Chiron," he said, causing her eyes to widen. "Now, what's your plan than?"

"I… uhhh…" she stumbled over her words for a second, having been taken off guard. "Well… I was going to head down to Arizona where the paper said the problem was and well… investigate."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, before he opened them again. He was suddenly even more glad he'd caught her before she left, "That's it? How are you going to get there? Where are you going to stay? What are you going to eat? Do you even know what to look for? The place will be crawling with Wizards and Witches."

"I'll be fine!" She exclaimed. "I've packed food, and I'll be able to figure out the rest once I get there."

"You didn't even answer my other questions," Harry said, some heat entering his voice at what he perceived to be carelessness on her part. "I thought you of all people would know how dangerous the world can be outside camp! About how dangerous going out there without a plan can be!"

"I of all people?" Thalia repeated incredulously. Her whole body tensed as something seemed to shift in the air. Harry was very suddenly reminded of how powerful Thalia's divine power could be. It was almost as if lightning was flashing in her eyes. "You should be careful what you say. Friend or not, you have no idea what I went through out there, and I won't have you throwing it back in my face!"

"I know exactly what it's like! I already told you about Jen. She was the very best this camp had to offer. She was smart, she was skilled, she was powerful, and she had a well thought out plan for her quest… and look at what happened! She's still gone… without even a trace," Harry took another deep breath. His own anger cooling somewhat at the remorseful look on his friends face. "I'm sorry for what I said. It was out of line, but it was only because I'm worried about you."

"It's fine. I overreacted," Thalia kicked her shoe against the floor looking away from him. "So what now? Are you going to try and stop me?"

"No," Harry said. Even though he knew it was probably a mistake, he continued on, "Since it's obvious to me that I won't be able to change your mind, I'll be coming with you on your quest."

Thalia's head jerked around to look at him in surprise, "you will?"

He nodded, "And we're going to be going by my plan instead."

Despite his last little dig in there, Thalia was smiling, but strangely enough it seemed more self satisfied than anything. He'd been surprised at how careless she had been at hiding her plans from him. He was pretty sure she could have done a much better job if she wanted to. Ah… oh well. They now had things to do. He'd think about this at another time.


	6. Chapter 5: Magizoologist Part 1

**Chapter 5: _So You Want to be a Magizoologist? Part 1_**

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _Sorry again for the long break between chapters. Real life can make time for writing hard sometimes. This is an especially long chapter for you guys though. We hope you all enjoy it. I know that we both have appreciated all the support you guys have been giving us and love seeing the reviews you leave us. Please continue to do so and let us know what you guys think._

 _We've had a few people asking us about the Dimensional Travel Harry Potter story idea we have listed on our profile. No, it was not taken down, it has actually never been posted. We've written the first few chapters but haven't had a chance to work on it in a very long time. We're not sure what we will be doing with it yet but keep your eye out; we may still post it yet._

 _Now, onto the chapter. Please enjoy!_

* * *

"What are we doing just waiting out here again?" Thalia asked for what seemed like the hundredth time as they loitered outside the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City.

"We're waiting for Mr. Scamander to leave from his appeal," he explained again. "With all the security around the building, they won't let unauthorized personnel to apparate directly in or out so he'll definitely be coming out here at some point."

"That's the weird teleportation popping thing you do, right?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes at her wording but nodded anyway, "Yes, that's apparition." He stressed the proper term.

"Why don't they just call it teleporting then?" She scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Did they really need to make up a fancy word of their own for it?"

"No-majs probably got the idea for teleporting off of some long forgotten knowledge of a wizard's apparition from before the Statute of Secrecy went into effect, so if you think about it, I bet the term has probably been around longer than word teleportation," Harry offered.

Thalia huffed as she narrowed her eyes at him in a look that clearly stated she didn't appreciate him circumventing her argument, but Harry just shrugged it off good-naturedly.

"Well, can we at least go wait over there instead of just standing here on the sidewalk?" She asked pointing across the street to the small park that offered a nice splash of greenery in the middle of such a major urban jungle.

Harry just cocked an eyebrow, "We are waiting for the guy who can, as you put it, 'teleport' out of here. Once he's free of the building actually, though he will have to find somewhere out of sight. If we're not ready, we'll lose him immediately, and your quest will end before it even began."

"I know. I know," she groused. "This is just so boring."

"Hopefully he'll be out soon," he said trying to placate her. "It's coming up onto an hour since it was supposed to start. I highly doubt he'll get what he wants. I bet the only reason they're hearing him out is because of who he is. That being said, they'll shut things down before too long. Don't want to waste too much of their precious time, right?"

Thalia ignored what he said, choosing instead to speak her mind again, "I almost actually wish there was some kind of monster around trying to kill us. At least fighting would give me something to do and I wouldn't be so bored."

Harry sighed in exasperation. He knew Thalia was just doing it to try and bug him now, "Well why don't you head into Starbucks a few doors down and get us a drink or something then?"

The demigod daughter of Zeus smiled brightly, easily taking the 20 dollar bill he held out, "Thanks."

He just shook his head, muttering, "Why do I feel like your going to end up costing me a lot of money by the end of this quest."

As his companion disappeared down the street, Harry kept his eye peeled, skimming across the crowd. After he'd discovered that Thalia planned to go on this quest no matter he joined her or not, he had taken over the planning. It hadn't actually been that hard to sneak out of camp, but he was sure that Chiron had discovered their absence by now. He felt guilty about sneaking out behind the back of one of the main father figures in his life, but he tried to console himself to the fact that he was doing the right thing. Not only were they going to save these Thunderbirds, but Harry was also doing this to make sure that Thalia remained alive. He had a feeling Zeus wouldn't be so kind as to turn her into a pine tree for a second time if they messed up.

It was a few minutes later, as Harry pulled himself out of these thoughts that he finally spotted someone exiting from the door he knew doubled as the entrance to the magical portion of the building, the Headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. It was a clean-shaven elderly gentleman with short dark grey hair. Despite the summer weather, he wore a long coat that flapped slightly as he moved. An extremely old and beaten up looking suitcase was clasped in his hand. Harry recognized him from the newspapers. It was Newt Scamander.

With agility that belied his age, the old magizoologist had already pushed himself into the crowded Manhattan streets and was currently weaving his way away from Harry. Looking around frantically, he was relieved to spot Thalia on her way back from the Starbucks. Waving at her frantically to grab her attention, he turned and started trying to follow the famous wizard.

Harry wasn't sure how he made it look so easy, but he was having a much harder time getting through the crowd. From the bumps, dirty looks and occasional curses thrown his way, it seemed the general consensus was that he was heading the wrong way. It all became a bit easier however when Thalia reached his side. Despite her being a bit smaller than he was, she seemed to have no issue forcing her way through.

"You found him?" Thalia asked as she pulled up beside him.

Harry nodded, "Yea. He's just ahead of us a bit."

They continued on, following him for a few blocks until Harry slammed to a stop thinking he'd lost the old wizard. It was Thalia that nudged his arm and nodded her head in the direction to look, allowing him to catch a glimpse of him slipping into a narrow alleyway just in time before he was completely out of sight. With an unspoken agreement, the two demigods moved in sync out of the heavy rush of pedestrians. They rounded the corner, entering to the small gap between the two buildings. The could stand shoulder to shoulder easy enough, but not much more than that.

They both came to a stop once again.

"Shit. Where'd he go?" Thalia asked, shock colouring her tone.

"I don't know," Harry muttered, hesitating between reaching for his wand or his blade, and deciding on his wand after a split second. They were trying to track down an old man who loved animals, not some monster.

He just couldn't figure out where he had gone. He was pretty sure he'd have been able to hear the crack of apparition if he'd already left that way. It was possible for a wizard or witch to apparate almost silently, but it was very difficult and thus extremely rare. There wasn't even any dumpsters or anything down here that could be hiding the old wizard from their sight. It was perplexing.

It was at that moment that he felt it. The tingling at the back of his neck. His hairs were standing on end. Someone or something was watching them. Spinning around, he moved to bring his wand to bear only to find another wand already pointed at him causing him to freeze. Lagging a second behind, Thalia also turned around to face the new arrival cursing all the way. An aged yet familiar looking face looked back at him.

"Mr. Scamander?" Harry asked tentatively, still keeping an eye on the wand pointed his way.

"Is there a reason you two were following me?" He asked, eyebrows drawn together.

Harry shifted somewhat uncomfortably, trying to think of how to put it properly, but before he could Thalia had already blurted out, "How did you know?"

He understood her curiosity. Most wizards were pretty overwhelmed when being out among so many nomaj and he was actually surprised he'd been able to pick them out so easily. That being said, he still had to resist the urge to groan at her lack of tact.

From what he could tell, the old wizard seemed a bit amused as well though that faded somewhat with his answer, "You can't live through a war like the one with Grindelwald and not pick up a few tricks."

Thalia looked confused by the answer, but Harry was now looking at the man with a bit more interest. He wouldn't say he knew much about the Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald, but he did know the basics, and it was common knowledge, especially here, that Newt Scamander had been involved in his first capture, even if he did escape shortly after.

"However, I'll ask again. What were you two doing following me?"

"Well… my friend here is named Thalia, and I'm Harry, sir. We've been waiting for you all morning because, well, we want to help you save the Thunderbirds," Harry explained. There was no point in him beating around the bush, so he just came out with it.

Scamander eyes widened slightly looking surprised. It seems like he had been expecting something else, and by the way, he'd caught them off guard, probably some a lot less friendly than they had been intending. A small smile seemed to have made it onto the man's face after that, and he lowered his wand.

"That's a commendable goal," he said. "I'm assuming you've learned about all this from the papers then?"

Before he could respond, Thalia was nodding. "I read all about it. It's not fair what they're trying to do so I convinced Harry to help me. I actually wanted to head right there, but he convinced me to come to find you first."

The wizard continued to smile but he a seemed a bit concerned now, "As I said, it's a commendable goal, but it's probably best to leave it up to the professionals. As much as I love working with magical creatures, I won't deny they can be dangerous when handled by inexperienced hands."

"But the professionals aren't doing anything about it!" She complained. "They just want to murder them since they're making lives a bit more difficult right now. Shouldn't they be trying to figure out what's going on first?"

"I will admit that MACUSA could be doing more, but that doesn't mean the two of you should be going and getting yourselves involved with this," he said firmly.

"But-" Thalia protested.

"No! You have no idea what you're talking about. Yes, it's tragic that these creatures are being hunted and yes they are an endangered species, but if I let two children get involved in this mess, I will never forgive myself." The last part seemed more of a comment to himself than to the two of them, but he continued to ramble on nonetheless.

"They are dangerous, they are unpredictable, and you could quite easily get yourself killed. So thanks but no thanks. Just because you are the Boy-who-lived doesn't mean you're invincible."

"How did you-" Harry went to ask but stopped already knowing the answer. Even living on the other side of the Atlantic, and without that strange scar people always insisted that he should have, it seemed British wizards knew him on sight. "Never mind. Stupid question. I am not defenseless though, Newt. I may be only 14, but I would hardly call myself an average wizard and Thalia here is no slouch either."

"This isn't some Care Of Magical Creatures lesson. Go home." He ordered before starting to mumble to himself again. Harry got the feeling he did that a lot. "I would say let the professionals deal with it, but the professionals don't appear to be listening to reason right now, so it appears I will have to go alone."

"That's why you need our help," Thalia pressed.

"No!" He seemed vehement in his decision.

"You're refusing help?" Harry cut in surprised. "You say you care about magical creatures, but you're refusing help from the only two people that have offered. What's your plan exactly? Track the creature and then what? It's a gigantic magical eagle that can control the weather! You'll be no use alone."

"Wow that is probably the worst description of those creatures that I've ever heard," he said looking almost scandalized. "Maybe I need to talk to Ilvermorny about their Care of Magical Creatures program again… and no to your other question! You don't need to worry about my plan seeing as how you won't be there to see it."

"You are being rather difficul-" Harry froze. A low rumble catching his attention at the edge of his hearing. He looked to Thalia and asked slowly, "What was that?"

The rumble sounded again… this time louder. It was unmistakably as a growl.

"Just some stray probably." Newt said, rolling his eyes "See this is another reason why I won't take you. One small dose of real fear and you'll be a liability."

"Trust me, when something makes _us_ scared, there is normally a very good reason," Thalia said absentmindedly rubbing her bracelet with one hand while she reached into her pocket with the other. All the while, she continued looking around for incoming threats.

It was obvious to Harry that she had heard it too. His hair was standing on end once more. Trusting in his fellow demigod's instincts, when she looked behind herself in apprehension, Harry spun around as well. Slowly a large figure came out of the shadows of the alley, growling and snapping its huge jaws with such menace that it made Thalia visibly flinch back.

"That ain't no stray dog," Harry said trying his best to keep his voice even.

"Hellhound!" Thalia shouted as it lunged forward.

Quick as a flash she had her spear in her hand, angled into a defensive position as the massive dog lunged forward. Harry quickly drew his blade, summoning his wand in his offhand for support. Both children had just got their weapons ready in time when the creature was upon them, crashing into the haft of Thalia's spear. She held it back from her face with a grunt. The Hellhound was so strong that it actually managed to push her back several feet, and she was forced to shift her stance in order to divert it away from her. She did manage to use its weight against it though, and threw it off her into Harry's path. He quickly decapitated it with ease where it burst into a shower of golden dust.

"Well, that was- Oh come on!" Harry said just as a group of 5 more Hellhounds bounded into the alley from the shadows.

They stopped just short of the party, trying to circle them instead and stop them from fleeing. Due to the narrow width of the available space they failed in that respect, but that didn't matter in the end. The only way out was the way from which they'd come in and that was now blocked.

"Why on earth do you kids have swords... or even know how to use them? Wait magical creatures don't explode with gold sparkles?" The old magizoologist looked a little out of his depth.

"Necessity… as you can see and none of the ones _you've_ seen do that," Harry said, gesturing to the creatures of Hades currently moving in towards them, slowly pushing them back further and further into the alley. The back wall wasn't even that far away now, and Harry assumed that as soon as they hit it, they would get torn to shreds.

"Are you going to complain?" Thalia said, raising her eyebrow in challenge.

"No... I just… Wait! Did you say Hellhounds? What on Earth are Hellhounds? I know every magical creature currently discovered, and there is no mention of anything called a Hellhound!"

"Well that's the problem," Thalia interjected. "You're only using your knowledge of _Earth_."

"I- what?" Scamander looked at her in confusion.

"I'm not sure you really want to get into an educational debate on the origins of Hellhounds right now perhaps when we are not in the middle of fighting for our lives?" Harry suggested sarcastically.

"Yes… well…" he muttered.

"Thalia? Shall we?" Harry asked good-naturedly to the girl standing beside him. She was currently angling her spear like a hoplon. For anyone who was listening, they might have suspected the two were about to go out and do something mundane like walk to the local grocer, not fighting murderous dogs from the pits of hell.

"Let's," she agreed with a smirk before spinning her spear in the air around her causing the air pressure to shift drastically.

In less than a second, a cloud had already formed above her head, sending a small bolt of lightning cracking downwards towards Earth. Catching it on her metal spear, she thrust it out towards the nearest hound, letting the charge loose without hesitation. It was a direct hit. The hound was sent flying out of the alley, a large burning mess. If it weren't for the mist hiding their activities and the fact that it disappeared in another cloud of gold dust before the body could even hit the pavement, they would probably be in a lot of trouble.

The other Hellhounds took this as their cue to attack, and this time Newt did not stand idly by to let the kids do all the work. Twirling his wand with practiced ease, he let loose a slew of spells that hit their mark on the surrounding Hellhounds with all the speed and accuracy you would expect from somebody as experienced as he was. He opened with mostly stunners and banishing charms, obviously trying to put them down quickly yet nonlethally. The force of his attacks managed to knock a few of the monsters around and even send loose rubble to impact their sides. Unfortunately, this didn't do much as the spells hitting their hide seemed to next to no effect other than staggering one of the smaller ones for a split second. It only seemed to be making the beasts more angry and determined.

Harry could tell Newt was shocked to see his spells almost had no effect, but it didn't seem phased for long, "How magic resistant are these things?"

"Fairly so," Harry answered the man's shouted question, slashing at one of them and forcing it to jump back out of reach of his celestial bronze blade. "You're going to need to use more than stunners to deal with them."

As strange as the situation was to the wizard, he took the advice to heart, his spells moving over to something with a more significant impact. From what Harry noticed between his own attacks, he seemed to be favoring blasting curses at the moment. One such hit was so powerful that it shattered the ground before them, causing shards of concrete to be kicked up into the air. The small pieces almost appeared to float there for a moment before they came tumbling back down. As impressive as it looked to him, Harry was happier that it was functional than flashy, as he saw the monsters get pushed back some more.

Refocusing on his own problems, Harry held his sword loosely with one hand, while he began transfiguring the environment around them into as many distractions as he could. An impressed look from Newt from out of the corner of his eye had him thinking that their competency may have just been silently elevated in the elder man's eyes. Neither of them had time to talk about it though because one of the hounds had just broken through and had surprisingly lunged right passed the two demigods and towards what it had apparently thought was the easier meal.

Reacting on instinct, Harry sent a fireball barrelling from his palm to intercept the beast. Wasting no time, Thalia drove her spear into its belly before yanking it out with almost inhuman speed and stabbing it back again in the eye, this time killing it completely. Unfortunately, as her back was turned, another Hellhound decided to try his luck. Seeing it just in time, Harry threw his blade forward dusting the hellhound before it got to her. He wandlessly summoned it back to his hand, one of the only only true pieces of wandless magic he could pull off.

Newt kept pumping the creatures with spells. He wasn't as close to being as effective as the other two, but he was having much more success than he had before by upping the lethality of his magic. For the most part, though, he was just buying the other two time. By this point, there was now only three creatures left, and two of those number were looking pretty rough. Doing some transfiguration of his own, he started transforming some of the debris into normal wolves in order to help supplement Harry's own creations. Harry reluctantly had to admit to himself that Newt seemed to be much more proficient at it than he was.

Setting them on the Hellhounds, Harry appreciated that it created enough of a distraction for he or Thalia to go in for the kill. He figured it wasn't easy for a famous animal lover like Newt Scamander to hurt them, even if these were just monsters out for their blood. As for Thalia and himself, he knew they both couldn't help but feel a bit invigorated when they were able to pit themselves against the monsters of Greek mythology. It was in their very blood.

One of the Hellhounds broke through again and lunged at Harry, but he didn't budge an inch.

"Move!" Newt yelled, panic evident in his voice. It was clear he thought the Hellhound was about to get him.

Feeling calm as anything, he pivoted to the side and let the lunging beast pass him by. Using its own momentum against it, his sword was driven straight into the creatures gut. Unfortunately for him, a huge meaty paw swiped his shoulder as it passed, gouging it with blade-like claws.

"Ah shit" Harry cried as the burning line of pain lanced down his one arm.

He nearly dropped his sword but his years of training had given him the ingrained sense of mind not to make that mistake. The other Hellhounds, obviously smelling the blood, charged through Newts spellfire, intent on killing what they now saw as their weakened prey.

"No!" Thalia cried, jumping in front of their charge.

Her eyes practically glowed as she thrust her arm forward and sent a powerful pulse of air at the offending canines. The force was so powerful that when the Hellhound impacted the wall, behind it, it cracked, leaving a small pile of broken bricks on the ground. She wasn't done there, and this time she raised both her arms towards the sky. The small cloud from earlier still hanging low over the alley and suddenly started to darken, bathing the alley in even deeper shadow. The very air around them started to feel charged to Harry, the hairs on the back of his arms standing at attention as the roar of the wind became deafening.

"What on earth? Are you doing this? How are you doing this?" The older wizard yelled, looking to be doing everything in his power not to be blown away.

"As I said, we aren't defenseless children," Thalia said in a cold voice before making a fist and dragging it down towards the ground. The effect was instantaneous. A small tornado touched down at her command. The wind continued to swirl even more intensely, lifting the Hellhounds up into the air, pulling them higher and higher away from the ground.

Just as they reached a hundred meters or more, Thalia eyes seemed to actually crackle with electricity. A moment later, a bolt of lightning split the sky, striking one of the Hellhounds, electricity arcing between the rest of them. It made quick work of vaporizing them completely.

The tornado lingered for a few seconds longer before dissipating away as if it had never existed. Harry, who, despite their training together, had not yet seen a show of power like this from Thalia, was quite impressed. However, it did seem to take a lot out of her if her labored breaths were any indication. She looked quite pale as well, and her skin was slightly clammy.

Silence reigned over the group for a few moments, Thalia still trying to catch her breath. After a few moments, his friend turned to him and pulled him back up to his feet.

"You ok?" Thalia asked sounding worried. She took a quick glance at his wound. "That looks nasty."

"Oh! I might have something for that," Newt interjected as he fumbled in his jacket for something. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a small vial of liquid. "Essence of Dittany. Should close the wound. I'm not so good at healing magic, I'm afraid... so this will have to do."

"Thanks," Harry muttered before taking the vial and carefully pouring a few drops of it on his wounds. He winced as it touched his skin, the sting momentarily intense, but it was worth it since he could see the skin start to knit itself back together before his very eyes. It wasn't ideal, and it would still need to heal properly, but at least he wasn't bleeding everywhere anymore. Nectar and ambrosia would've been better, but that was infinitely more valuable to their kind.

"What on earth are creatures like that doing in the middle of a city?" Newt asked, still looking shocked. "MACUSA will have a fit after an attack like that!"

"It's likely they smelt us and decided to follow," Harry commented. "To a Hellhound we are basically like a walking buffet. Either that or Hades sent them, but I don't think we did anything to piss him off."

"Harry! He's…" Thalia yelled, but he cut her off.

"You just created a tornado with your bare hands, I think secrecy is a mute point now," Harry countered with a pointed look.

"Are you sure?" Thalia said uncertainly, looking a bit bashful when Harry drew attention to her large display of power.

"No, but I'm going to do it anyway," Harry said with a slight smirk. "Plus there is no rule saying magical folk can't know. They aren't considered the same as regular mortals anyway."

"I'm sorry… Hades? As in Greek god of Death Hades?" Newt cut in looking confused.

"Well technically god of the Underworld. Thanatos is the god of death... but yes... that one," Harry explained. "Look, I'm sorry about this. We should have known that having us here for too long would be a danger. Waiting all day for you to turn up was foolish."

"You're telling me that the ancient Greek god Hades… is real?" Newt said, disbelief clear in his voice.

"No, I'm telling you _all_ the ancient Greek gods are real. And will you please stop saying his name I'd rather he not notice we just killed 5 of his favorite creatures," Harry said with a scowl.

"Yeah, I don't think he's going to be too happy about that," Thalia said, scowling slightly.

She put her spear back in its hidden form of a mace canister, slipping into her pocket. He also noticed her rubbing a smudge of gold off the clasp of her bracelet; it seemed she hadn't even released her shield during the battle. It was probably for the best; the Aegis design probably would have freaked Newt out more than it would have helped them.

"What makes you think he'd send anything after you? If what you're saying is true then you're just two kids and he's well… him. Why would he care about you at all?" Newt asked, still trying to piece it all together.

"Well, he is my uncle," Thalia responded before clarifying, "my father's brother actually. He tends not to like his family very much, so there is that."

"You're-" Newt asked, eyes widening in shock.

"A demigod yes. And so is Harry here," Thalia looked quite pleased with being able to invoke that reaction from their new companion.

"Impossible," Newt denied. "Everyone knows Harry's parents were Lily and James Potter and neither of them were gods."

 _'That you know,'_ Harry thought silently as he smirked.

"I'm pretty sure either one of them wasn't my parent, or I'm adopted. I don't like to think either of my parents cheated so I'll go with the latter," Harry said with a touch of regret.

 _'Sorry mother, but it's not time for the truth just yet, not even for him,'_ Harry said apologetically in his mind.

There was no response. No magical voice in his head speaking to him from his mother, but he didn't expect there to be. He may have had more contact with his mother during his childhood than most demigods do with their godly parents in their whole lives, but she was still a goddess and could only interfere with mortal affairs up to a certain point. Nevertheless, he knew how she felt on the subject. He knew how much she regretted being unable to claim him as her own. One day it would all come out, he knew that, and on that day, hopefully, Thalia's dad decided not to roast him alive. At one time he'd believed it would be such a big deal, but after seeing how adamant Zeus had been on killing Percy after Poseidon agreed not to father anymore demigod children, well, he didn't want to test how he'd feel about his elder sister doing the same.

"I- I don't even know what to say…" Newt muttered.

"It's not something you have to worry about," Harry said. "The magical community has been mostly separated from the gods for a long time. As far as I know, some witches and wizards know the truth, but they mostly keep it to themselves."

"Don't worry about it? But this is insane!" He exclaimed. "What about all the other gods? Are the Norse real too? Am I going to meet Thor and Odin walking down the street one day?"

Thalia laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. It's just the Greek gods."

Newt started to calm down though Harry remained silent. The question hadn't been that ridiculous. He'd actually asked his mom the same thing when he was younger too. She hadn't even answered him, just patted him on the head with a smile before disappearing back up to Olympus. There had to be something there, but he wasn't going to get into it now.

"So, are you still against us coming with you?" Harry finally asked, seemingly making Newt forget his mental struggle.

"I… well… I don't know…" he seemed to be wavering.

"We're going to go on our own no matter," Thalia cut in making the wizard grimace.

"Right," Harry agreed, playing along with what his friend had started. "At least if we go with you, you can keep your eye on us, but as she said, it's up to you. We're going anyway."

"Ok. Ok," Newt gestured for him to stop. "I get it. You can come with me."

The daughter of Zeus let out a small cheer, "Thank you! Trust me when I say you will not regre-"

"BUT," he cut across her small celebration. "You will do exactly as I say. If I give an instruction, it's because I have a good reason to do so. As much as I love magical creatures, they can be incredibly dangerous once provoked, so if I tell you to do something, you better do it. If I tell you to run, you better run and not look back. Got it?"

Thalia looked a bit like she might want to argue, so he answered quickly, "We've got it."

When his friend didn't say anything, he deliberately trod on her foot, getting a small yelp in return. Fortunately, she seemed to get his message, as a moment later she ground out her own agreement, "I understand."

"Than in return," Harry began, "If we run into any more monsters, you will need to listen to us. While I respect that you have your profession, we have our own specialty. Almost all of the monsters we may encounter will be dangerous and out for blood. There is a reason that most demigods don't make it to adulthood."

Newt seemed to pale at that last comment, but he nodded his consent even if he didn't look happy about it, "Very well."

"How are we getting there than?" Thalia asked.

"I think that is one thing I will be able to help with," the old wizard said, unraveling a very old and faded looking yellow and black scarf from around his neck.

"Why are you even wearing a scarf anyway?" She asked. "It's the middle of the summer."

The magizoologist looked down at it fondly, "I've never been quite able to leave home without it, it's not like its nothing a few cooling charms can't fix anyway."

"That Hufflepuff pride, I see," Harry commented.

Newt quirked an eyebrow, "I thought you were studying here at Ilvermorny?"

"Oh, I am. My godfather likes to tell stories about Hogwarts however, so I feel like I know lots about it."

"Godfather?" Newt questioned.

"Sirius Black," Harry admitted.

Newt froze for a moment, before nodding his head, "I'd heard he was taken in my MACUSA and rumors about his innocence. I'm assuming that they are true if you're in contact with him."

Harry scowled, "Of course he is. Do they still think otherwise back in Britain?"

"The Ministry doesn't like to admit they are wrong," Newt said sheepishly. "I don't think the embarrassment of him escaping from the maximum security ward of Azkaban a few days after they put him there has ingratiated him to them."

"Unbelievable," he scoffed.

"Yes, well, that's the Ministry for you," he scratched the back of his head, "As for your godfather, it doesn't surprise me that he told you stories. Hogwarts is the greatest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world, though my wife, Tina, still disagrees with me. She was a Thunderbird at Ilvermorny herself."

"It is the best house," Harry agreed, a somewhat smug smile appearing on his face.

"I'll have to tell her you said that," Newt winked.

"Ok, this is great and everything, but I'm still waiting to find out how we are getting to Arizona," Thalia said, interrupting their chatter.

"With this," Newt held up his scarf again. Taking his wand, Harry watched as he tapped it with a quickly muttered, "Portus."

"What?" Thalia muttered. "I don't understand."

"Just grab it!" Harry ordered, just having done so himself.

The scarf was already starting to glow. Eyes going wide, Thalia obeyed. Lunging forward, she just managed to get a finger touching the fabric before Harry felt that familiar hook behind his navel, and then they were off.

* * *

Harry stumbled a few steps forward as his feet finally touched down on the ground. Luckily he managed to steady himself by grabbing a nearby brick wall. Gods, he really hated magical travel. Could they not make at least one thing comfortable apart from a broom… that was one method he loved, even if it was much slower than its alternatives.

A loud crash behind him, altered Harry to the fact that Thalia's landing had not been as pleasant. Turning around, he was somewhat surprised to see his friend climbing weakly out of a dumpster… or at least attempting to. Halfway there she was forced to stop as she began emptying her stomach over the side. He might have found her struggles with magical travel amusing if he didn't know what it was like to be in her shoes. Everyone around him always seemed to find his trouble with portkeys and the Floo funny. As it was, he was even more concerned to see that she seemed to be shaking.

"Hey Thalia, are you ok?" He asked, moving closer.

She just groaned, "So much spinning… what was that?"

"That was a Portkey," Newt interjected, looking particularly unruffled, much to Harry's annoyance. "Have you never taken one?"

"No…" she admitted before starting to heave over the side again.

"I might have something for that actually," Newt muttered, once again digging through his coat. "If you can imagine it, the intercontinental Portkeys are even worse and can upset even my stomach. I am surprised you've never taken one though. You're what? 14? 15?"

"Yes.. well… you see, Thalia isn't actually a witch," Harry interjected quickly, making Newt pause in his search to blink at him. "As said before she's a demigod. I'm the only demigod who's also a wizard that I know of at the moment."

"Oh," he only looked thrown off for another second or two before going back to his search as if nothing had ever happened, pulling out a small package a moment later. Freeing what looked to be a small mint candy, he handed it to Thalia. "This should settled the stomach a bit."

She eyed the candy for a moment before plopping it in her mouth, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Like I said, I needed one after the intercontinental portkey over here anyway. Those things are a doozy," Newt reassured her. Waving off her thanks, he looked at Harry. "Is that rare?"

"Rare?"

"Being both," he clarified.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Not unheard of but not overly common. Since most magical folk are more used to the supernatural than no-majes, most gods don't want to draw attention to themselves and risk it by hooking up with them."

"I see," Harry wasn't sure if he actually did or if he was just being polite, but it didn't really matter in the end. The intersection of the magical world and the gods was complicated enough as it was. He still didn't completely understand it himself.

It was at this point that Thalia finally managed to completely free herself from the dumpster, "That actually did help. I think I'm feeling a bit better now, not that I ever want to have to take one of those awful things again!"

Harry couldn't help but wrinkle his nose a bit as he saw her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She demanded looking down, causing her eyes to widen. "Shit! What am I going to do? I have a few clothes in my bag, but even if I change I'm still going to stink!"

Harry chuckled as he pulled out his wand, waving it over her body before she could react, "Scourgify!"

His friend looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment as the charm scrubbed everything clean, her clothes and her body. Harry smiled at her apologetically, knowing it could leave the skin feeling a bit irritated after.

"Well, I guess that's convenient," she muttered. "I think I'd rather keep on taking showers in the future though."

"Now that we've got that sorted, let's press on," Newt said moving down the alley that Harry was just now noticing they were in.

Nodding, he went to follow, only to notice Thalia stumble. Acting on reflex, he managed to grab her arm and keep her upright.

"Are you alright?" He looked her over quickly, only just picking up on the fact that she seemed to be breathing heavily. "Did you get injured in our fight earlier?"

"No… I'm… I'm fine," she said breathlessly, not looking fine at all. "I'm just tired. Haven't used my powers that much in a long time."

"Well, as good as you are with a spear, it looks like I found something you need more time practicing with," she glared at him from under her bangs. He knew that Thalia didn't like feeling weak, and that probably do wonders from her already short fuse. "For now though, we just need to get you some food and let you sit down for a few minutes. After that you should be right as rain."

"Are you two alright?" The elder wizard had apparently noticed they were no longer behind him and had come back.

"We're fine. Thalia's still feeling a bit unsettled from that portkey," Harry lied. "Is there somewhere we can sit down for a few minutes? Maybe grab something to eat?"

Newt looked conflicted, "There's a magical pub that should be within a few blocks I think. I'm not sure exactly where. I was planning on heading there anyway. It's where most of the unsavory types who looking to poach the thunderbirds will be. It's our best chance to gather some intel."

He'd begun walking towards the main road again and this time the two demigods followed him, though Thalia was still leaning on Harry a bit.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for us to go in there right away while we're not at full strength?" Harry asked incredulously. "I don't think a bunch of poachers, with dubious morals at that, will be happy to see the most famous magical rights activist in the world showing up at what they see as probably the luckiest break they've ever gotten."

"I don't think we'll be treated warmly, but I doubt they'd attack us in the middle of a pub with all those witnesses," he said, shielding his face as they stepped out of the alley and into the sun.

Harry wanted to do the same, but unfortunately, his one arm was still clasped in his fellow demigods grip. Instead, he was forced to squint as he glanced around for anything recognizable. It didn't help much, and the sudden wave heat that hit them was almost unbearable.

"Someone tell Apollo to turn down the intensity on the sun chariot," Harry muttered before turning slightly towards Newt. "Where are we?"

"In the heart of downtown Phoenix," he said.

Harry grunted in response still glancing around, "Anyway, I really wouldn't put it past these poachers to attack us if they thought we're gonna get in their way. Plus, I'm not sure Thalia will make it if we have to walk around looking for it in this heat."

Thalia growled slightly, "I'm fine," but didn't sound very convincing.

Eyes alighting on a good alternative, Harry pointed across the street, "How about we stop for a quick lunch over there?"

"McDonalds?" Newt looked uncertain. "I don't really have any muggle money on me."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I brought enough mortal money, or rather, no-maj currency for us to get by."

"I guess we could," he ventured.

"Perfect," he said.

The trio then proceeded to cross the road and approach the famous restaurant with the big yellow arches. Thalia even seemed to perk up a bit as they got closer.

"I've never actually been to McDonalds!" she said excitedly.

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise, his mind flying over the many times Sirius had dragged him here after he got hooked on the junkfood.

"Annabeth, Luke, and I never really had any money for it when we were on the run she explained," she explained, before her expression grew a bit darker. "And it's not like I'd get it before that… and I didn't really get to eat anything over the past 5 years either."

"Right… well, it's not like you've been missing out on much," Harry said trying to interject some lightheartedness into the conversation. "The food isn't that good, and it's pretty bad for you, but what can you do? People still eat it nonstop… including my godfather."

Thalia actually let out a small giggle that was soon replaced with a sigh as they moved into the air conditioned interior of the restaurant. Glancing at Newt again in a slight panic, he was happy to remember that the elder wizard wasn't wearing robes, thank the gods for small mercies, though his somewhat formal looking attire under his jacket would probably stand out a bit in here.

Seeming to feel better just by being out of the heat, Thalia stopped leaning on him, and actually began moving up to the line ahead of them. Shaking his head, Harry followed. She really must be hungry. Standing behind a few others, they waited for their turn.

"I've always wanted to get a happy meal," Thalia admitted quietly, though still sounding excited.

Harry blinked at her in confusion. A Harry Meal? That wouldn't be enough for her after their fight earlier.

"Why would you want a Happy Meal?" He asked. "You aren't a kid?"

"Shut up!" Thalia's face reddened, her eyes glancing at something behind him.

Following her gaze, his eyes landed on a locked plastic display case with a bunch of small animal plush animals.

"You want a toy?" Harry questioned, feeling bewildered.

If at all possible, his friends face flushed an even darker colour. "No! You know what, you can just order whatever for me! I'm sure in your infinite wisdom you can find something age appropriate. I'll go find a table!"

Before he could get a word in edgewise, the girl who had only minutes before been leaning on him for support, shoved past him and stormed away. He couldn't help but sigh. He knew he had messed up.

Newt coughed awkwardly beside him, "I may not be the best at dealing with women, but it would probably be best to apologize to your young friend."

Harry sighed again, "I know… wait… what do you mean you're not the best at dealing with women? Haven't you been married for, like, almost a century?"

Newt began scratching the back of his head again, "Not quite a century, but yes, Tina and I have been together for a long time."

He rolled his eyes, "Exactly… so you obviously aren't bad at dealing with women."

"Honestly, I still ask myself why she's with me to this day," he chuckled nervously. "I caused a lot of problems for both her and MACUSA back in '26. I didn't think she'd want to see me again after that, let alone spend the rest of her life with me."

Harry couldn't help but smile a bit at that. It was sweet. He couldn't help but hope for something like that one day. Despite being grateful he'd got to grow up at camp and had not been left with the sister of his mother's temporary mortal form, it was no true replacement for a real family. As unlikely as it was for most demigods, he wanted to start his own family one day, and Newt's words just reminded him of that.

Reaching the front of the line, Harry allowed Newt to order whatever he wanted, while he picked for him and Thalia. The woman did look at him a bit strangely when he was the one paying, but she was soon smiling sweetly when he told her that his parents had given him money to take his 'grandfather' out for lunch for his birthday.

Newt gave him a weird look, "What?"

"Grandfather?" He asked in amusement.

Harry shrugged, "It works."

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that or not."

"Aren't you like a 100 years old anyway?" Harry questioned.

"115 actually," he coughed out awkwardly causing Harry's eyes to widen.

"Than, what's the problem?" He shook his head. "Aren't you an actual grandfather anyway?"

"Well, yes," he admitted. "My grandson Rolf isn't actually that much older than yourself. I guess it's just being off on another adventure like this after so long, it's got me sentimental for my younger years."

"Well, you still seemed pretty… err… spry in our fight earlier," he tried to console the older wizard, feeling a bit awkward.

Newt laughed, taking his own food off the tray, "Thank you. That's good to hear from someone as young as yourself. Now, why don't you go make up with your friend, and I'll be over in a minute."

Holding back a small scowl at being called young, Harry nodded and approached the table Thalia had sat herself at. Her head had jerked away the moment he'd spotted her, obviously trying to hide the fact she'd been watching him too. She was now looking determinedly out the window. It was clear she was sulking.

He took a seat across from her, placing the tray down between them. Thalia still wouldn't look at him. Taking a breath to steady himself, he cleared his throat. She didn't even flinch.

"I got-" he began.

"-me something age appropriate I'd assume," Thalia snarked, her blue eyes flashing dangerously as looked towards him. "That would be easy for you."

Harry sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean anything by it. I was more concerned about a Happy Meal not being enough after the amount of power you used earlier."

Some of the hostility drained out of her posture though she still looked to be on guard. Something twisted uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach at the idea that he'd somehow broken the trust that Thalia had placed in him. She still hadn't commented, however.

"Plus," he finally broke the momentary silence, "It doesn't bother me if you wanted a toy."

"I didn't want a toy!" She barked back, her face a tinge of pink.

Harry shrugged, trying to hold back a grin, "Ok. I guess you don't want these two stuffed animals that I got with your Happy Meals than. That should be more than enough food for you I think."

Thalia's eyes widened as she took in the two items in question. One was a brown dog with an extremely large head, the other some kind of purple ball creature with two orange feet and large eyes.

"I don't want a toy," she muttered, but she didn't sound quite so enthusiastic this time.

"Perfect, I'll keep them. They're actually pretty cute, if I say so myself," he said seriously.

Thalia's eye twitched, and then after of moment of silence, she snatched the two plush toys out of his hand.

"So you do-"

"Shut up," she cut him off succinctly.

Harry raised his hands in defeat before digging into his burger a moment later. Thalia did the same. She didn't say any more about the incident, keeping her head down as she ate, her bangs partially hiding her eyes, but to Harry's relief, he did see small upwards curve on her lips.

A few minutes later, as they were all finishing off their meal, Thalis finally spoke, even if it was barely a murmur, "Thanks."

Harry wasn't even sure she'd spoken at first, but he replied anyway, "Don't mention it."

She looked up meeting his gaze, "I-"

She ducked her head again, increasing his concern. This wasn't like her. For the short time he'd known her, she'd always been a bit loud, a bit brash, and generally unafraid of speaking her mind, seeing her acting so meek… it didn't seem right.

Before Harry knew what he was doing, he'd reached across the table taking hold of her hand that lay there, "You know you can tell me if anything's wrong, right? I'm your friend. I'll listen if you want me too."

Thalia had stiffened slightly on contact, and her eyes, darting back towards his, had widened considerably. For a moment, she seemed frozen in shock, but after a moment she seemed actually to relax a bit, "Really?"

"Really," he echoed back.

Thalia bit her lip nervously, something that some traitorous part of his mind could not help but think would have been cute if he hadn't known how distressed she seemed, and began to explain, "I know it may seem silly, and I said before about how I'd never really even been to a McDonalds before… but that's not all of it."

"You know it's fine Thalia," he tried to reassure her again. "I wasn't judging you. You don't owe me any me any explanations."

"I know. But I want to explain anyway," she took a deep breath. "I was 12 when my dad turned me into a tree… and then I woke up... almost 6 years later. I should be like 17 and it's only by some strange quirk that my aging slowed when I was a tree. Still, I'm just shy of 16 now!"

"I really can't imagine what that's like," Harry admitted.

"Everything has been so confusing!" She exclaimed, grabbing her hair. "One moment it's like nothing has ever changed. I'm still 12 years-old, running from monsters, escaping dangerous situations by the skin of our teeth. The rest of the time I'm who I really am now… a nearly 16-year-old girl who's just been told there's a prophecy on her head that will decide the fate of the world."

"I already told you I'd do anything to help you with that," Harry pressed. "You're not alone. Please don't forget that."

"I know," she squeezed her eyes shut. "I know… but that doesn't mean that anything I said was untrue. I appreciate it, Harry, I do, but in the end, this prophecy has still been forced on me, and unless I can find a way out, I'll have to deal with it… just like you will have to deal with yours."

Harry grimaced, "Yeah…"

She looked down again, "I'm sorry for bringing you… well, yours up too."

"It's fine," he assured her. "Look, I know something will have to be done about your prophecy in the end. No matter what you say, I'll help you look for an out. I promise that much at least. All I was trying to say earlier is that no one expects you to be able to deal with all this perfectly. You were turned into a tree for years! It's ok not to be ok. I can't think of any reason why having difficulty adjusting isn't understandable… let alone expected. So… just… if you ever need someone to talk to, just let me know. Don't feel ashamed of being confused on how you're feeling."

Thalia opened her mouth a few times as if to say something but no sound came out. In the end, she just ended up nodding, her eyes looking a little watery, something he studiously ignored. Even if she didn't say it, he had a feeling she was grateful.

"Have you two made up yet?" Newt asked, sitting down at one of the other chairs at their table.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry replied imperiously, turning his nose up slightly. Unfortunately, Thalia ruined this by once again blushing.

"Of course not," the old magizoologist smirked. Harry swore this guy acted more like a kid sometimes than they did. "Now that we are done our meal, and all rested up- you are feeling better now, right?"

"Uhh, yea. I am. Thanks," Thalia replied.

"Good… good," he muttered to himself, checking his watch before looking back at the two demigods. "As I said, I think we should go check out the magical pub around here. It's our best to find out about what's been happening in the area. It'll be a good place to scope out the competition too."

Newt winked at them as he said that last bit, standing up, and grabbing his case. Harry and Thalia followed him out, once again wilting slightly as they exited the air-conditioned interior of the restaurant.

"So how do we find this place?" Harry asked after they'd walked about a block. "I'm assuming its hidden from the no-majes. Most places like this are, right?"

"That's true," he confirmed with a chuckle. "There was actually place back in New York called The Blind Pig. It was magical pub back when I was first there in '26. I think a goblin gangster owned it at the time… anyway, the entrance was hidden behind this lipstick poster. You had to knock on it just right so they'd let you through. You wouldn't know there was anything other than a brick wall there though if you hadn't gone through yourself."

Harry noticed Thalia mouthing _'Goblin Gangster'_ at with an incredulous look on her face, but he just shrugged in response. It wouldn't have been the weirdest thing he'd seen.

"As…" he paused for a second to find the right word before continuing, "... amusing as that is, I was more wondering how his one is hidden. How do we find it?"

Newt blinked at his in surprise, "This one? Oh. I have no idea."

"What?" Harry ground out, resisting the urge to facepalm. "What do you mean you don't know how to find it?"

"I only had a chance to hear about the general area it was in," he explained. "But don't worry. I'll know it when I see it."

Harry resisted the urge to groan, "Do you at least know what it's called?"

"The Feathered Flame I believe."

Thalia snorted, "The Feathered Flame? What kind of a name is that?"

"It's in reference to the immortal bird, the Phoenix, with which this city happens to share a name with," Newt explained before starting to ramble. "Fascinating creatures Phoenixes. Unfortunately, even with all my travels, I've never had much luck approaching them in the wild. They're probably one of the hardest creatures out there to domesticate. It's actually for that reason they have an XXXX rating, not because they are aggressive. I wouldn't even have half as much information as I do if Professor Dumbledore hadn't been so kind as to allow me to meet his familiar."

That caught Harry's attention and apparently Thalia's too, "Harry, isn't that the guy you told me about who-"

"Err, yea," he cut her off, before looking to Newt. "You know Dumbledore?"

"He's an old friend," the magizoologist confirmed. "He was actually my transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts… well before I got expelled, that is. Later, we fought together a bit in the war on Grindelwald, and have kept in touch ever since. Have you ever met him?"

"Just the once," Harry said somewhat stiffly. "We didn't quite see eye to eye."

Newt frowned, "That's strange. Albus is usually quite amicable."

"Not about this…" He muttered.

Newt opened his mouth to respond when he froze. Looking back and forth a few times he changed directions, heading towards another alley, beckoning them to follow, "This way."

"How'd he know?" Thalia asked him, but Harry just shrugged.

Moving ahead down the gap between the buildings, Newt finally stopped, turning to look up at the one wall. Following his gaze, they were met with the sight of a large piece of faded graffiti, about the size of a person. It was pretty well done, but wouldn't have warranted the attention they were currently giving it... well that's if Harry hadn't asked Newt for more details on their destination earlier.

"A phoenix," Harry commented dryly, "Fitting, I guess. How do we get in?"

Newt was already moving, running his hands lightly over the wall, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"What is with you wizards and alleyways?" Thalia muttered. "People could still wander down here you know."

"As you were obviously thinking, alleyways are out of sight, and make a good place for secret entrances," Newt said without looking away from what he was doing.

"And," Harry picked up the explanation, "it's probably been charmed to keep no-majes out."

"Like the camp barrier?" She asked.

Harry glanced at Newt, but he was still muttering at the wall, not paying attention, "A bit. As you know, mortals and monsters physically cannot enter within the camp's boarder's, but almost no mortal would ever try to since it's invisible to them, completely hidden by the mist. There are wards that prevent people from entering locations that a wizard can cast too, but what they've probably done here is closer to what the mist does. Any no-majes that come close will find themselves suddenly remembering a reason they have to leave, be it a forgotten appointment, or something as simple as an overwhelming sense that they shouldn't be there."

Thalia nodded, "I guess that makes sense."

Before Harry had a chance to say anything else, Newt called them over, "I think I've found something!"

"A way in?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I believe so," he said with a small grin, pointing towards the tail feathers of the painted Phoenix.

"And I'm looking at…" he trailed off.

Newt huffed, "This right here."

"It looks like a hole in the wall," Thalia commented from beside him.

"Well, there's a brick missing," Newt said as if it were obvious. "I'm almost certain this is where the trigger is located."

"How do we… you know… trigger it than?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure," Harry dug his nails into the palm of his hand hard enough that probably drew blood, his eye twitching.

"Is that so?" He asked carefully.

"Yea… hmmm… what could it be? What could it be? Phoenix…. A phoenix… oh! I've got it!" Newt finally exclaimed, and Harry's eyes shot to the older wizard. "I need a bit of fire. Where'd I put my wand?"

Blinking for a second, as Newt fumbled for his focus, Harry stepped forward, "I've got it."

Holding out his hand, palm upwards, a small ball of fire danced into existence.

"How di-" Newt began but stopped when Harry pushed the fire into the indent in the wall.

The whole design flashed almost immediately, and the design on the wall now looked clear and vibrant, as if it had just been painted. It was obviously a magical design too, seeing the bird in the picture twist it's head around to look at them, it blinked for a moment before the whole thing went up in a burst of real flames. An archway opened up a moment later.

They only took a half a second to glance at her each other before they stepped through into a priorly unseen room. None of them could see how the fire rushed back together behind them, disappearing on the outside with a small woosh, or how graffiti Phoenix faded back to its previously aged look. What they did see, however, was quite a normal looking pub… well if you discounted the moving artwork and obvious non-humans.

"Woah," Thalia murmured.

"Let's grab a booth," the eldest one in their party suggested.

They navigated their way through the tables that crowded the main floor, weaving this way and that. At one point Thalia had to duck down as a few dirty glasses soared over her head from a recently abandoned table to a sink by the bar. Selecting a booth with a good view of the room, the two teens slid onto the bench. Newt wandered off a second later.

The venue itself wasn't overly busy or loud. There were a few groups of people sitting around who looked like colleagues coming in for an afternoon drink, and their low murmurings filled the background with a bit of white noise. Harry wasn't quite sure what magical professions they had around here seeing as how the population was a lot more spread out than it was in Britain. The highest concentration was actually in the place they'd just left, and that was just because the headquarters of MACUSA was located there. Harry figured that this was probably the pub that serviced the whole state.

The walls themselves were a dark burgundy colour, with little highlights of orange or even gold around the decor. It seemed like they really were going for the whole Phoenix theme like Newt had said. All the furniture was a nice dark wood that fit well with the low lighting, though with the knicks and grooves he could feel under his hands, the tables were well worn.

He was startled out of his after the small thud of Newt depositing several bottles on the table, "You picked up lunch, Harry, so thought the least I could do was buy you both a Butterbeer."

Grabbing the cold bottle, Harry smiled and clinked his bottle against the older wizard's, "Cheers."

"Butterbeer," Thalia questioned, swiping up her own bottle with excitement. "Are we allowed?"

"The alcohol content is basically nonexistent," Harry explained. "You'd get sick of drinking the stuff long before you ever had enough of it to get even a buzz."

Thalia pouted slightly, "Lucky you, for a second I thought you were trying to liquor me up, Harry."

Harry coughed on his drink, trying to splutter a denial as she took her first sip. He'd stopped talking at that point, his eyes widening like saucers as she actually let out an audible pleasured moan. "This shit is really really good."

Harry took another swig himself, his throat suddenly feeling very dry. He hadn't known she could make a sound like that, and even just thinking about it a few seconds later was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Lost in his own contemplation, he didn't even notice the small smirk that now adorned Thalia's face.

Newt cleared his throat, snapping back to attention. He hoped that the lighting was low enough that no one noticed the heat on his cheeks.

"So did you get any information?" Harry asked.

"Not yet," Newt said. "I thought it would only be fair to buy something first. We can recuperate here a bit more, see if there's anything to see. I'll go talk to the bartender again before we leave and see what he knows."

"Ok," Harry said looking around the room again. "Doesn't look like there are many people here though."

"We'll see," he answered cryptically. "I was wondering if you think we'll actually be encountering any more… well… monsters."

Harry and Thalia shared a quick look.

"We never know for sure," Harry said delicately. "But if it does happen, it wouldn't surprise me."

Newt looked concerned, "Really?"

"Look at this way," Thalia said, "Demigods normally attract monsters to them, but when you take a child of the big three like me, it's like a hundred times worse."

"The big three?" The old wizard didn't look like he was sure he wanted to know the answer to that question.

"The three most powerful gods," Harry answered. "Zeus, King of Olympus and god of the Skys, Poseidon, god of the Seas, and Hades, god of the underworld."

"Which one is-" Newt began only for a look of realization to appear on his face. "I guess that isn't that hard to figure out."

Thalia gave him a somewhat bitter smile.

"Me being a wizard on top of a demigod doesn't help things either," Harry added. "The two of us together are like an all you can eat monster buffet."

"Was it really a good idea for you both to be out than?" He asked with concern. "I'm assuming there is a safe place out there for demigods?"

The two of them glanced at each other again, "There is, but-"

"But there was no way I was going to sit by and let this happen," Thalia cut across. "Dangerous or not, I decided to go on this quest. Harry's only here to try and keep me alive."

"Hey, that's not true," Harry denied quickly.

"Really?" Thalia raised one of her dark eyebrows, making Harry gulp. "You're not here to protect me?"

"Well, it's not the only reason," he defended himself, before continuing quietly, "I wanted to save them too, I just knew it would be dangerous, and we'd get in trouble with Chiron."

There was a moment of silence as Thalia's eyes softened slightly, and Harry took another drink of his Butterbeer simply for something to do.

A commotion at the entranceway drew their attention as a group of wizards entered the pub. They were all quite large men, looking like they were quite used to physical labour, something that is less common among magical folk than it was the no-maj. That in itself wasn't enough to warrant any suspicion, but there was something off about them, something foreboding about their presence. Harry caught Newt looking too, but he didn't say anything about it, so Harry shrugged it off.

Of course, knowing his luck, the group chose a table nearby, one of their number going up for the drinks. Before long they were clinking their tankards together, their loud voices and laughs echoing throughout the room. It was clear many of the other patrons found the new group obnoxious as well, seeing as a few people weren't very subtle with their dirty looks as they got up to leave.

Despite the earlier customers slowly being driven away, the pub began to fill up steadily after that. Harry kept his eye on the new customers coming in but not much caught his attention. He was pretty sure that Newt had been right about some of those seeking the bounty would come here, as a few of the wizards seemed to be carrying equipment he wasn't used to seeing amongst wizards.

The old magizoologist in question had asked a few more questions about the gods that the two demigods had answered in hushed tones. They explained a bit about how their world works, and how Olympus actually moves around to whatever is currently considered the 'center of Western Civilization.' They didn't mention Camp Half-Blood though. Even with everything they had told him, through some unspoken agreement between him and Thalia, they felt sharing details about the camp was just too far. As interesting a conversation was for all involved, their good mood couldn't last.

"These fucking beasts won't know what the hell hit them!" One of the men seated at the table near them boasted loudly, his voice slightly slurred. "The boss got us an Acromantula Silk woven net! It almost cost us the entirety of our last score, and you remember how profitable tackling those Occamy nests in India were. This one will be even better though. If everything goes to plan we'll be able to restrain the damn birds easily and not worry about them shocking us."

Harry could feel the sudden tension in the air around his two companions.

"Wait. We're trying to capture them?" One of the other wizards asked, sweat glinting on his brow in the low light. "These things are supposed to be really dangerous, shouldn't we just kill them and get it over with?"

"Easier? Yes. More profitable? No," The biggest wizard of the lot spoke, his voice sounding more like a growl than anything. He was facing away from them, so Harry couldn't see his face. "Out of everything, the birds' feathers are its best commodity. They are mainly used for wands, if sparingly since they are so rare to collect."

Harry's hand closed almost protectively over his own wand as he heard this, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Can't we just pluck the stupid feathers once its dead, sir?" The nervous wizard asked again.

"No. Their quality diminishes exponentially after death. No wand maker would even take them at that point," the guy who seemed to be in charge didn't seem like he was very happy to have to reassure his subordinate, "Most of them get them gifted willingly by the birds to wandmakers and that's why they are so rare. We need to take them while the bird is still alive."

"That's why we got the nets to hold the giant bastards down," the drunk wizard who'd originally caught their attention spoke up again. "These Thunderbirds are known for creating storms and channeling electricity through their feathers. They say the quality of the feather goes up if the bird's actively channeling magic through it when it's plucked, so that's why some of us will be working on holding in down, while the others will be… let's just say… keep it nice and agitated until we're done."

Newt was up in a flash, nocking their table, and spilling their drinks as he did so. It was only his years of training that gave Harry the reflexes to grab the older wizard before he did something he would regret.

"Don't do it," Harry whispered. "I know what they said, but it will only bring trouble our way."

Newt stilled against his arm before taking a deep breath and turning towards them with a strained smile, "Oops. Sorry about that kids. I'll grab us a rag from the bar to wipe down the table. Maybe the bartender will have something to tell me about our search, and I'll try to book us some rooms upstairs for the night as well."

Harry let out a breath of relief that he hadn't know he'd even been holding. Unfortunately, the relief didn't last long.

"Hey, boss. Did you see that clumsy old idiot that just spilled his whole table's drinks," a voice slurred. "I tell you, sometimes I think we should just put people out of their misery after a certain age. It's not like they're contributing to anything. If I ever get that bad one day, I give you permission to do it for me."

Harry's hand curled into a fist. He could feel his temper rising, and it took everything he had to not react to what these idiots were saying. It didn't matter; they were just words. He still didn't know Newt that well, only half a day really, but he did respect the man, both for his accomplishments and based on what he'd seen of him so far, even if he seemed a bit quirky at times.

"Harry," Thalia's voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back to reality.

"What?" She frowned, and Harry winced at how harsh it had come across.

"Your hand," she said pointing downward, "It's smoking."

Blinking in confusion, he looked at the appendage in question and saw that yes, it was indeed smoking slightly. Letting out a sigh, Harry took a few deep breaths in and out, allowing his mind to calm. Opening his eyes, he was happy to see it was back to normal.

"Thanks," he murmured to Thalia, not meeting her eyes. It had been a long time since he'd almost lost control of his powers like that.

They didn't have to wait long for Newt to return, and he had something with him. Unfolding, what Harry realized a minute later to be a big map, he pointed to an area circled in red.

"The bartender was kind enough to mark off the locations from the past Thunderbird activity while I was booking our rooms for the night," he explained. "Luckily, almost all the incidents have happened in roughly the same area, so our search shouldn't be that bad. I'm starting to think that this might be near their nesting grounds. It would make sense with some of the behavior we've seen. So, I think our best bet is to-"

Whatever else Newt was going to say was cut off as their map suddenly zoomed off their table into the hands of the drunk loudmouth from earlier, "What's an old codger like you think you're doing hunting Thunderbirds."

Harry palmed his wand as Newt straightened himself out, giving the man a very strained smile and holding out his hand, "I'd appreciate it if you could return our map to us."

"I don't think I will," the man smirked, "You see, you're likelier to keel over than see the trip through, and I don't want there to be no confusion or suspicious circumstances going on when we claim the bounty from MACUSA. I think it'd be best you just sit this one out, grandpa. You catch my drift?"

"If I were you, I'd be a bit more careful with what is say," Harry growled, standing up beside Newt.

"Oh look, the geezer's not on his own, he's brought a kid with him as back up," the man started laughing. "I'm just terrified now."

"I'm here too!" Thalia pivoted over the bench smoothly in one moment to land beside Harry.

"Well I'm sorry, it's an old man, a little kid now, and a girl. I'm not seeing much difference from when it was just him," he taunted, jerking his thumb at Newt. He spent a little longer looking at Thalia. "You're actually not too bad, babe. I'm sure you could come along with us if you really want."

Thalia recoiled as if struck, her face scrunching up in disgust, "Not on your life!"

Harry stepped forward, but in a reversal of roles, Newt grabbed his arm to hold him back this time. The drunk wizard's face had gone an interesting shade of red, but was stopped from responding by the deep voiced wizard from before. The wizard still sitting with his back to them.

"Enough Sebastian," he didn't raise his voice at all, but the ring of command was unmistakable. "If you weren't already so deep in your cups, you'd be able to notice that she's only a girl. I will not have us tied down by some unnecessary drama because MACUSA found out you were lusting after a minor. Are we clear?"

The wizard in question's teeth ground together for a moment, but he eventually gave a stuff nod, "Yes sir."

"Good," the other wizard answered slowly, his voice reminiscent of two giant boulders slowly grinding together. Harry wasn't sure how he knew Thalia was a minor when he hadn't turned around once, but at the moment he didn't care.

"Our map?" Harry asked calmly, even if he was still furious inside.

The wizard, Sebastian, sneered, flicking his wand and causing their map to go up in flames. The guy in charge just sighed.

Newt, Thalia, and Harry just stood there for a moment staring down the obvious poachers, before Newt finally motioned for them to follow him. They'd only made it a few steps away before another voice spoke.

"Wait a second! I know him. The old man. He's that animal rights activist from the paper! Scallyander or whatever," it was the nervous wizard from before that was pointing at Newt.

Both he and Sebastian jumped to their feet, wands out, though the one's arm was shaking slightly. Harry didn't waste any time pulling his own, and Newt did the same. Harry spotted Thalia reaching in her coat, but he shook his head at her.

"Actually, my name is-"

"Newt Scamander," the leader spoke. "World famous Magizoologist and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I know who you are."

"Oh, well I'm afraid I can't return that same pleasure as I'm not sure who I'm speaking to."

The man just chuckled at that, something that seemed to throw Newt off a bit. He turned around and got to his feet, finally giving them a glimpse of his face. He had a thickset face with a square jaw. The most noticeable feature Harry could see however was the wicked looking scar that ran from under one of his eyes, down his cheek, to end near his chin.

"I know why you're here Mr. Scamander," he said. "Anyone with half a brain could figure it out. I'll just give you this one warning, stay out of my way. This isn't one of your regular jobs in Germany protecting the Bowtruckles; a bounty has been placed on the Thunderbirds' head. You won't get any help from the Aurors, and you may even find yourself receiving their ire if you interfere."

Newt didn't say anything for a moment before speaking very carefully, "I'm sure you're well aware, but the International Confederation of Wizards frowns very harshly on any kind of torture of magical creatures."

"We are well aware, and we'll make sure to keep that in mind," the wizard responded evenly.

Despite the seemingly calm nature of the wizard before them, he made Harry the most nervous of the three. There was just something not right with him. Something off. He had a glint in his eye as he looked at Newt that just didn't sit well with him.

"OUT!" The shout caught them all off guard. "GET OUT! If you're going to be fighting, it's not going to be in my pub so take it outside!"

"Ma'am-"

"No! I won't have it!" The bartender, and apparently owner demanded. "I'll call the Aurors and have them drag you all out if I have to, and let me tell you, I know they won't be happy to be dragged across the country to deal with a bar fight."

"But they were the ones who started it!" Thalia exclaimed pointing at the occupants of the other table.

"You little bi-" Sebastian started.

"I don't care!" The owner said. Thalia moved to speak again, but she cut her off. "I don't care who started it. I am not having any more fights in my pub. Make a choice!"

Silence descended on the room; it seems the other patrons were watching the drama unfold as well.

"We were just leaving," Newt finally said, once again beckoning for them to leave. Sebastian mocking laughter ringing in their ears.

"Remember my warning," the deep voice followed them out, making Harry tense.

No one said anything until they'd gone back through the secret entrance and were walking down a familiar looking alleyway.

"Oh Newt!" Thalia said, eyes wide. "What about our rooms? You said you booked for us to stay there tonight."

"It's just a few galleons," he smiled wanly. "There's no way we were staying there while those… those… while they are there. It's not safe. Don't worry we'll find something else."

Harry could help but agree, he probably would not have got a wink of sleep anywhere near those pricks. Thalia seemed reassured by his words too which was a bonus. Really, he just couldn't wait to get as far away as he could from this place.

* * *

It turned out that Newt's idea of 'finding something else' turned out to be making their way to the edge of the city closest to where they needed to go the next day, and after skulking around there for a while, checking into a sketchy motel. A sketchy motel, Harry wanted to add, that he had to pay for since he was the only one with mortal / no-maj currency, or rather the good old American dollar. This may not seem like too big a deal except that he'd only brought so much cash with him, and of course, that's the only thing the motel accepted, rendering the credit card Sirius had given him, for emergencies, useless. They were lucky that they could at least afford one room for the night.

"You've got to be kidding me," Thalia said from the doorway as they stepped inside. Her eyes were fixed on the one single bed.

"I know this is not ideal…" Newt began, receiving disbelieving looks from the two teens. "Err… well… I can do this at least."

Waving his wand over the bed, it began to grow and after a few moments stopped around the size of a normal queen. It was obvious that anything bigger wouldn't fit at all.

"That's the best I can do in the present circumstances, I think. The room wouldn't fit two singles," he said apologetically.

Harry just grunted his acceptance, not in the mood to argue after their long day. Thalia still didn't look that happy, but at least she wasn't opening scowling anymore.

"I guess I'll be off to bed then," he said after not receiving any kind of verbal response from the two of them. "It'll be a busy day tomorrow, so don't stay up too late. Good night."

To their astonishment, he proceeded to set his battered old case on the floor, flip the lid, step inside, and slowly disappear down inside. Harry blinked a few times to make sure he'd seen it correctly, and he wasn't disappointed.

"What the Hades was that?" Thalia asked.

"Some type of undetectable extension charm I think," he said walking around the case but not touching it. "But to make it so you can go inside a bag like that… that's very impressive."

"Hmm," Thalia was back to looking at the bed again, her nose wrinkled. "I'm still not sure I want to sleep on that."

"Let me see what I can do," Harry said, pointing his wand at the bed, "Scourgify!"

The sheets rustled a bit for a second and actually seemed to become a shade lighter though Harry could admit that might have just been in his imagination.

"Well, it's as clean as it's going to get now," he said. "The only thing that could resist that would be some kind of magical mess which I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about here."

"That's good," Thalia said, as she sat down on the end of the bed somewhat tentatively, still looking a bit uncomfortable. It only took him another few seconds to realize what else was most likely troubling her.

"I can take the floor if you want?" Harry offered, though he wasn't very good at hiding his own distaste for the idea, even to his own ears.

"No!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around. "Luke, Annabeth, and I used to have to share a bed sometimes… when we even had a bed that is. It… it won't bother me. Just brings up some old memories."

Harry winced slightly at that. He knew they had been friends, but he was starting to feel that the renegade son of Hermes' betrayal had damaged the two girls more than he had initially thought. It was obvious Annabeth was still struggling with it, and though she hadn't spoken about it much, he could tell Thalia was hurting. He wasn't really sure what he could say to them, the same way he didn't know what to say to Sirius when he was haunted by the memories of how Peter Pettigrew had betrayed him and his parents.

"Are you sure it's ok?" Harry finally asked.

"Yeah," she replied before her usual smirk crept back onto her face. "And here I was under the impression that you'd jump at the chance to sleep with me? Maybe Percy's more your type?"

Harry growled, flicking his wand so that pillows on the bed flew through the air, hitting the daughter of Zeus right in the middle of the face. She let out a small shriek upon impact, falling off the bed backward. She popped up a minute later, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"It's on now Gandalf!" She said with a shark-like grin.

She hurled the one pillow at him directly. Sighing at the use of that hated nickname, Harry stopped the projectile midair easily with a flick of his wand, moving it out of his way, only to find the other pillow right behind it, being wielded in a melee fashion by Thalia. He only had a chance for his eyes to widen before it smacked him straight in the face. He fell backward against the wall with a small 'oof.'

Grabbing the first pillow in hand, Harry pushed off with his feet, jumping over his fellow demigod, only to land as planned on the bed. Thalia gave him a somewhat impressed look as she readied herself to renew her charge. Not allowing himself to get distracted, Harry pointed his wand at his feather filled weapon of mass destruction murmuring "Gemino" under his breath, over and over.

Where before there had only been the two pillows between them, there were now at least 6 laying around Harry alone. Thalia looked on in shock at this new development, but had already begun running towards him and had no time to change courses. Rolling to the side, he allowed the older girl's momentum to drive herself into her mattress. Struggling from a slightly awkward position on his back, he managed to wave his wand again, causing all the newly conjured pillows to rise into the air, and slam back down onto the daughter of Zeus repeatedly.

Squealing at the intense attack, she beat a few of the attack pillows back with the one she was holding before diving off the bed again. Unfortunately for her, the ones Harry had enchanted followed her across the room. She did her best to fight them off, but before the minute was up, Harry couldn't even see her buried under the pile on the floor. Knowing that he'd left it going long enough, he was about to cancel his spell, but that when he felt it. The change in the air. The charge. All the hairs on his arm stood on end.

Before he could do anything, the pile of pillows on the ground exploded outwards with as the sizzle of electricity. As one of them flew by his head, he could help but notice that it was a little blackened and looked to be smoking. With one last war cry, Harry watched Thalia running towards him, still armed with her original pillow. He didn't even have time to react before she had bodily checked him backward onto the bed. The two rolled over a few times before things finally came to a rest, both of them breathing heavily. It didn't take them long to realize the position they were in.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as his green eyes met her bright blue ones. They were beautiful really, and he could help but think that he could even see a hint of electricity dancing in their depths. That wasn't the only thing he noticed with her face and body hovering so close. Their noses were nearly touching, and he could just make out her full lips parted in a small 'O' of surprise. The rest, including how his arms were currently circled around her thin waist. He tried not to think about it. He feared that if he allowed himself to focus on all the ways their bodies were touching, she would be the first to feel his reaction physically.

Just as suddenly as the moment had come, it ended. Thalia scrambled backward with a mighty blush on her face. From how hot his face felt, he didn't figure he looked any better. Glancing around the room as if for anything else to focus on, her eyes went back to the pillows.

She coughed awkwardly, "So… I think I won."

Climbing back to his feet, he spun to face her as soon as she spoke, "No way! That was a tie at best!"

She shook her head, "That wasn't a tie. This isn't like our spar back at camp, where we both had each other dead to rights, I'm the one who pinned you… down."

Her voice slowed down at the end as she realized what she said. The awkwardness was back.

"Right," he agreed, just so they could end the conversation. "You win this time."

"Yeah…"

Harry glanced around the room again; it suddenly felt much smaller than before. His eyes settled on the door, "I'm going to step out for a minute. I just need a bit of fresh air before we turn in for the night. It's been a crazy day."

"Are you sure?" She asked as he started opening the door. "Is it safe?"

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "I won't be long. Don't worry."

"Ok…" she answered, but Harry could tell she was still a bit nervous.

Stepping out of the room, he closed the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, he quickly realized that there wasn't much fresh air to have here in the city, even out on the outskirts. The constant heat, even as the sun set, didn't help matters. Looking around the parking lot, Harry tensed up when he spotted a fire going in a nearby trashcan, a slight figure standing by it as if it were a campfire. Most would probably assume it was a homeless person, but Harry knew otherwise. Squaring his shoulders he walked over, stopping beside the child-like girl he now could see had brown curls.

"Isn't this pushing the definition of a hearth a bit far mom?" He asked.

"Harry," she greeted him. "As long as there at least one who sits by to tend the fire and draw from its warmth, who am I to judge it's worth?"

"Well, it sort of is your domain," he answered.

There was a small flash out of the corner of his eye, and as he turned his head, it was to see a much more familiar form to any of those who had once known Lily Potter.

"That sounds like something your uncles would say," she countered. "You know I don't care for such things."

"I know mom," he smiled faintly. The two stood in silence for a few minutes, listing to the fire crackle.

"Going on this quest was foolish, Harry," she finally broke the silence. "Things are more dangerous than you know."

"Thalia was going to go no matter what," he explained. "I couldn't just let her run off and get herself killed."

"I know," his mother turned to look at him, a knowing look on her face that for some reason he found made him feel uncomfortable. "And I'm proud of you for that, but it doesn't change the fact that neither of you should have left camp."

"Are you here to take us back then?" He asked, looking down at his feet in disappointment. As foolish as he'd known their actions had been, he found himself invested now and didn't want to leave Mr. Scamander behind.

"No, I am not," the goddess known to many as Hestia sighed. "You know I cannot involve myself that directly on a quest, especially when it involves your current traveling companion. My brother's eyes will be following you both quite closely at the moment."

"I see," Harry shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He'd been about to point out that this hadn't been an officially given quest, and that would probably give her more leeway, but the fact that Zeus was watching them put a damper on real help his mother could give.

"Despite that," she said. "I do have something for you."

Holding out his hand, he accepted what she offered. It was a dagger. A well crafted one at that, if a little simple in design. He had noticed that many of the gods liked flashy things, but it was one thing his mother did not. It was why she hadn't accepted a throne or usually kept her appearance so nondescript.

"A dagger?" He asked. "It's not my usual fighting style. I do have my sword, you know?"

"Are you refusing a gift from your mother?" Harry thought he heard something behind him, and went to look, when his mom's arms closed on his shoulders holding him still.

"No! Of course not," he backpedaled, his eyes wide. It was never good to offend a goddess, even if he was sure she'd never hurt him.

"Good," she replied, glancing past him for a moment and smiling. He clipped the dagger to his belt. "I can't stay for much longer."

"Oh," he looked down a bit. "It was good to see you."

"And it was good to see you too," she replied warmly, pulling him into a hug.

Just like her words, her embraces were always warm as well, like spending an afternoon lazing by a crackling fire.

Pulling back a moment later, she looked him in the eye, "As I said, make sure to be careful. I am certain my gift will come to be used sometime before your quest is done."

"I will," he said.

Hestia paused again, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, "Trust in your new friend as well. I do not believe she will let you down."

Harry blinked in surprise, wanting to ask what she meant, but she silenced his questions with a kiss to the head, "Take care my son."

Before he could respond in a flash of intense light and heat, she was gone. It was another one of the many strange abilities he had that he hadn't shared with most people. Even his mom didn't seem to know, or at least was unwilling to share why he could look upon a god's true form without his mind melting like other demigods. It was just one more question he hoped to have answered one day.

"Bye mom," he said to the spot she'd just occupied a moment before, blinking the spots out of his eyes all the while.

With one last sigh, he turned around to return to the room, only to freeze as he came face to face with a very shocked looking Thalia. With a million thoughts racing through his mind at once, only a few words came to him at that moment, "I can explain."

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 _ **A/N:** Editing this chapter took forever since it was so long. Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes. We apologize in advance if there is. _


	7. Chapter 6: Magizoologist Part 2

**Chapter 6: _So You Want to be a Magizoologist? Part 2_**

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 ** _A/N:_** _First of all, a big apology for such a long wait for this chapter. It was actually written a long time ago, but we never got the chance to edit it for a long while. We hope it lives up to your expectations for the end of this mini arc in the story. We'll do our very best to get the next update out in a more timely manner. We do appreciate all of the many follows, favorites, and reviews we have received. It means a lot to the both of us. Please enjoy this update!_

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If there was ever a time where the expression _'Dear in the headlights'_ applied. It was now. Harry didn't know what to do, just staring at where Thalia stood, feeling flabbergasted. Standing there slack-jawed, he was unable to come up with a proper response. _I can explain_ he had said. Could he though? Could he explain? A dozen different possible excuses ran through his mind at once, each more ridiculous than the last. No matter which way he put this, the reality of the situation was that he had lied and now needed to come clean. The only problem was that revealing the truth now came with its own set of problems. How would she react? Would she able to keep this a secret? There was no way this could become public knowledge yet.

His mother was one of the few virgin goddesses, and Zeus would certainly not take well to an oath being circumvented in this way. Hestia had not technically broken any rules, but she had certainly skated close to the line. Zeus was, unfortunately, a very hypocritical being and being made a fool of in this way would be seen as a direct attack on his pride. It would be difficult to truly predict how he would react.

Seeing Thalia's expectant look, he knew he had to say something, and soon. He could see the telltale signs of a coming outburst, and he really didn't want to argue with her. He had been the one in the wrong in the first place for not being completely honest.

"I'm sorry...I just...you have no idea what a mess it would be if anyone found out," he stammered out, not quite knowing how to phrase this.

"You lied to me. You said that you didn't know your godly parent, that it could be anyone. I can't believe I trusted you." Thalia said, a touch of hurt entering her tone near the end. Harry made towards her, but she backed away.

"I'm sorry."

"No! You don't get to say it's ok. You don't get to apologize. The gods...they are not even supposed to see their demigod children. Not even supposed to show they care. My father...I-" her breath hitched as she looked to the ground, collecting herself. She looked like she was about to cry, and her arms were shaking at her side, balled into fists as her shoulders tensed. "I could see she cares Harry I could see it in her eyes. I could hear it in your voice. My father won't even look at me, yet your mother appears out the sky in the middle of nowhere just to say hi."

"Well, actually she came to give me something for our-" Harry tried to correct, but Thalia quickly interrupted him.

"I don't care! She could have given you that at any time. Hell, she could have given it to you without even looking at you and left it in your cabin. Let's face it she just wanted to see you...why...why can't I have that" Thalia shouted, her eyes watering.

Harry could see a lone tear fall down her face, running slowly down her cheek. Seeing her like this felt like a stab in the chest. He had never seen her cry. He had seen her anger, he had seen her sadness, and he had even seen her immense drive, but at that moment she looked almost broken. He felt like he was finally getting a good look at the child that wanted nothing more than a normal, loving family. The child who had found herself waking up one day, suddenly several years older than she was supposed to be. It was the child that he knew she sometimes felt like inside, but she had already learned to hide so well behind her fierce exterior.

"Who was she anyway? I don't recognize her at all? Some minor god?" she said bitingly. As much as Harry knew she was purposely trying to get under his skin, the comment still worked to an extent. He had to grit his teeth against an angry retort. His mother was a source of great pride to him and for anyone to call her a 'minor' god hit him the wrong way.

"My _mother_ is perhaps one of the original Olympians, even if she gave up her seat. She is the goddess of the hearth. She isn't some _minor_ god as you put it," Harry said irritably. Even in her anger, Thalia's eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Hestia? But she's a virgin goddess. There is no way she could have children she swore on the Styx," Thalia said in shocked denial.

"You'll find that the divines often find loopholes in their vows. If they didn't then you wouldn't exist," He emphasized the last bit heavily.

He didn't mean to be snappy with her, but he didn't want her judging his mother too harshly. It was a dangerous attitude to have, especially with the importance of its secrecy, but he wouldn't allow anybody to insult his mother around him, intentional or not.

"That's different!" she protested.

"It's always different when it's not someone else,"Harry's eyes narrowed, giving her a quick glare. "Anyway, my mother didn't break the rules… not in the conventional sense. She temporarily took a small part of her essence and took on a mortal form. She didn't even have access to her memories of her true form, wanting to experience a human life properly. She infused herself into a young girl who would otherwise have died during childbirth, growing up with a normal mortal family after that. Of course, housing even a small fraction of a goddess' essence did not come without side effects, and thus at the age of eleven, my mum discovered she had magic. She was a first generation witch."

"The one that died for you?" Thalia seemed to have momentarily forgotten her anger as she listened to his story.

"Yes. She didn't know she was a goddess. When Voldemort came after me, she did everything she could to protect her child from him, and in the end, sacrificed her life for me. When my mother's human body died, her essence returned to its greater whole, her new memories with it. She was still a goddess though, even while living a mortal life, so I was still born a demigod, even if I had 'human' parents so to speak. It's complicated so trust me when I saw that I don't understand it completely myself," Harry explained.

Thalia looked at Harry inquisitively, and Harry could tell that her anger was fighting with her sense of curiosity, mirrored on how her face currently caught between a glare and a scowl.

"That… could be true I suppose?" she said slowly, her eyebrows raised as she looked Harry in the eye.

"You suppose? What you think I would lie about this?" He tried to keep his annoyance down, reminding himself how this looked to her.

"Well, you've been lying to me the entire time I've been here haven't you?" Thalia challenged.

"Won't you stop and think rationally for a second? Look at long I've actually known you! Why on earth would I start spilling probably my greatest secret to someone who until very recently was a complete stranger to me? I haven't even told Hannah, and she's practically family!"

"All the more reason why I shouldn't believe you now either," she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have no more reason to lie! Do you think you can just sneak up on a goddess? Seriously? My mother already knew you were there. For some reason she seems to think you should know and to be honest I've felt bad enough lying to you for this long. You're the first person I've really had a connection with since Hannah… please just don't be angry with me," Harry finished quietly, a rare moment of vulnerability to his tone.

Unbeknown to Harry, Thalia's eyes softened, and her angry demeanor seemed to fade almost instantly, as she really processed what he had said. At that moment she realized he doesn't really have a lot of friends, and he thought he was losing one of the very few he had. Taking a few moments to center herself, she stepped forward and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm… I'm sorry, ok? I just don't like being lied to. With Luke turning out to not be who I thought he was… I… I just need people I can trust and… well, it hurt to think you felt you couldn't trust me, ok?" She said quietly.

Harry met her gaze, "I know… I can understand how this looks… how this feels… really I can. I hate things being kept from me… gods, I hated keeping this from you. You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell you, but I had to keep piling on those little lies more and more. I was already planning on asking my mom if I could tell you… I just didn't think it would all happen so soon. I guess she just knows me all too well."

Thalia accepted this without comment at first, her face thoughtful. "I know some might react negatively, but is it really such a big deal if people found out?"

He paused, "Mom doesn't actually think that the majority of the Olympians would really care that much one way or another… she was more worried about…"

"What?"

"Well… uhh… your dad," Harry admitted tentatively.

Thalia's back seemed to stiffen, "You think he would be that bad?"

"I'm not really sure how to put this, but as you probably know, he's not exactly known for being the most open-minded of the gods," he said delicately. "He doesn't exactly like anything that could even slightly be construed as challenging his authority."

Thalia snorted, "That's an understatement."

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed. "He wanted to kill Percy for just being born! The only reason he didn't do that is because Poseidon was threatening war and plus Percy did him a service by retrieving his stolen master bolt."

"Did my father really come that close to killing him?" She asked, a complicated expression on her face. "I heard about what happened when I learned about Luke… but I didn't know all the details."

"I wasn't there," Harry shrugged, "but from what I heard from Chiron, it was close."

"You think he would try to kill you?" She asked in a small voice.

"I don't know," he sighed. "But it wouldn't surprise me. I know my mom would try and protect me. Even if she was already in conflict with the other Olympians, she would still confront them all… I'm sure of it. We really don't need a Civil War to deal with, especially with the new threats that are already on the horizon."

"It must be nice…" Thalia said. "Having no doubts that your parent would do that for you…"

Harry looked down, "I'm sorry things aren't better between you…"

"Why are you apologizing?" She asked incredulously. "It's not your fault my dad's the ultimate ass and that my mom is-"

She cut herself off at that point, her mouth clamping shut. Harry could tell she had almost revealed something more but had stopped herself.

He couldn't stop himself from asking, "Your mom? You haven't mentioned her before."

Thalia's whole expression locked down faster than anything he'd seen from her yet. He'd be inclined to call his friends temper explosive on most days, but this was different. There was a strong underlying anger present, but it was much quieter… much colder than he was used to.

"Never mind that," she said emotionlessly. "Just forget about it."

"But-"

"I said forget about it!" She snapped, some of the usual fire coming into her eyes. He tried not to flinch as he sparks jumping in her short black hair and up her arms when her fists clenched.

"Ok…. ok…" Harry said, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry I asked.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Harry watched as she took a few deep breaths. Opening them a moment later, she seemed a bit calmer. "I'm sorry I snapped. I… I just don't want to talk about her… that… right now, ok?"

"It's fine," Harry tried to assure her, even if his heart was still racing from that little display she'd put on. She was powerful, there was no doubt about that. After that, they descended into an awkward silence, finally broken by Harry a few moments later, "So… after learning all of this, are you willing to keep our secret safe?"

His friend, who had been staring out into the distance a few seconds earlier, quickly looked back at him, a bewildered look on her face, "Keep your secret? What? Did you think I was going to go off and tell my father?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably, "No, but my mom did say he has been watching us closely. It's probably best if you don't mention my mother by name out in the open from now on either."

"Of course he! Because some people don't know how to respect someone's privacy!" She turned her face to the sky, scowling. "Shouldn't we be worried now then? We've been talking out in the open for a while."

He shook his head, "I'm pretty sure my mom is protecting us at the moment, but we can rely on that going forward."

"I guess we'll just have to be careful then," she said.

He nodded, "Thank you, Thalia."

She looked at him contemplatively again, "Aren't you worried _at all_ that I will go and tell my father?"

"Not intentionally," Harry looked at her seriously. "Even if we haven't known each other that long, and I hadn't told you all of this yet, I do trust you. You're my friend… plus I was counting on this chance to stick it to your old man to be more alluring than any annoyance you felt towards me at the moment."

Thalia laughed at that, "I guess you do know me pretty well then."

He smiled, "Are we good then?"

She sighed, "Yeah, I guess we're good."

Feeling a wave of relief spreading through him at her answer, he decided it was probably best to turn in, "You ready to head back then? It's getting late, and we'll probably have to be up early tomorrow."

She nodded, and the two demigods moved back across the parking lot to their rented room. Neither of them noticed how the fire behind them flickered and died a moment later, somehow leaving the hot summer night feeling just a little bit cooler.

* * *

The first thing Harry heard as he slipped back into awareness were cars. It was a peculiar sound, not because he didn't know what it was, he wasn't that clueless. It was more the fact that he almost never woke up to that sound. He spent the majority of his year in a magic school on the peak of a mountain, and the rest of his time at a summer camp hidden away from mortal eyes by the very gods of Olympus themselves. It didn't leave much time for him to wake up to the noise of traffic. It was a strange morning indeed.

Funnily enough, that wasn't the only peculiarity that the demigod/wizard known as Harry Potter noticed that morning. It was only as he noticed this second strange fact about his current situation that he really came to his full awareness. He was not alone. How did he know this having just woke up, you may ask? Well, having an unknown body laying on the bed beside him, was a pretty good indicator. The person felt warm, snuggled up against him, their limbs intertwined with his own.

It was at that point that Harry finally opened his eyes… and met a pair of bright blue ones looking back at him. He finally remembered exactly where he was. They had stayed the night in a rundown motel somewhere on the edge of Phoenix Arizona. It seems like it was the sounds of the nearby highway that had woken him. He was sharing the bed with his new friend, and while she had started out on the other side of the mattress, sometime during the night, they had moved into their current position.

Harry's whole body stiffened in shock as he tried to figure out what to do. From the way Thalia's eyes were widening, he had a feeling she was going through something similar. This was proven correct a moment later when she let out a small shriek, scooting backward as quickly as she could, unintentionally or so he hoped, giving him a significant jolt. Shaking off the electricity as best he could, it took him a moment before he could meet her gaze and when he did, his own face flushed in embarrassment to match hers.

"Uhhh… good morning I guess," he said for lack of anything else to say.

She quickly averted her gaze, suddenly finding a big crack in the wall extremely interesting.

"Yeah… morning…" she mumbled. "I'm going to go get dressed… don't look!"

Without further ado, she climbed off of the bed. Grabbing her small backpack and scurrying into the bathroom, the door clicked shut behind her. Of course, with her drawing attention to the matter herself, he couldn't help but notice her current attire. She didn't have proper pyjamas, not that he did either, and had instead more of an oversized t-shirt and underwear. It wasn't like they were anything racy, she was still only a 15 year-old girl, and one who hadn't had a chance to go shopping in the several years at that, but it was still enough to make Harry to gulp nervously. He'd already admitted his friend was a beautiful girl, and the quick of flash of her creamy legs did nothing to change that opinion in his mind.

Physically shaking his head as if to fling those thoughts away, Harry tried to respect her request and instead focused on getting himself dressed and ready for the day. Finishing that, it only took a few _Finite Incantatems_ to return the room back to how they found it, excluding the fact that it still much cleaner than before.

Looking down on Newt's suitcase awkwardly, he tried to decide what he should do and eventually settled on knocking on the lid despite how foolish it made him feel in the moment. It took a lot less time for him to get a response than he expected. So much so that he actually had to jerk backward to avoid being hit by the lid as it swung open.

"Ah! Good morning Harry," the old wizard said as he climbed out of the piece of luggage. He was actually pretty impressed that someone Newt's age could climb up and down a ladder so easily. He must have been in pretty good shape.

"Morning," he said reflexively as he floundered for something else to say. "Did you... Uh… sleep well?"

"I did. Thank you for asking," he responded with a grin. "I trust the two of you were fine?"

"Yeah," Harry answered, all the while thinking about the drama that occurred surrounding his mother's impromptu visit. The older wizard didn't need to know about that.

"Wonderful," he glanced around the room quickly before affixing his eyes to on Harry again. "I'm going to the front desk to look for a map and to check out while you two finish up. Make sure to lock up behind you."

"Oh… sure," Harry said agreed glancing back towards the closed bathroom door.

With another nod of his head, Newt Scamander flicked his wand, summoning his case back to him from across the room. He left a moment later, the door clicking shut behind him. Letting out a sigh, he buried his face in his hands. He still felt embarrassed about the position they'd woken up in and even more so because of how much he'd enjoyed it. Even thinking about the feeling of her smooth legs pressed up against him had his face heating up. Thalia loved to tease him, and if he didn't get himself under control, she would hold it above his head forever.

The sound of the door opening broke him out of his thoughts and brought him face to face with the subject of his thoughts. Thalia had dressed in a pair of dark short jeans that hugged her legs and other curves, not helping the direction of his earlier thoughts. On top, she wore a light looking white blouse he hadn't seen before. It didn't seem to fit her usual style and definitely wasn't in her usual colour palette. It was nice though. It somehow both made her look more mature and more like a normal teenager at the same time. If he didn't know any better, he'd never have imagined she was a fearsome warrior.

"What are you looking at?" She asked somewhat shortly.

Looking at her face, he could see some colour on her cheeks as well, "Oh, sorry. You look… nice."

"Thanks…" she was avoiding his eyes again, quite determinately looking around for their travel companions suitcase. "Where's Newt?"

"Front desk apparently," he told her. "We're supposed to go meet him when we were ready."

"Oh good!" Scooping up her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder, she was quick to move to the doorway. He was pretty sure that she was more than relieved to escape the room that had trapped them together alone. On the one hand, he agreed that things were feeling a bit awkward this morning, but in a small part of his mind, he couldn't help but feel a touch disappointed.

Following his friend out the door, "Colloportus." He had the tip of his wand aimed at the door handle. There was a small, barely noticeable flash of light of light, and then he heard a solid click as the lock engaged. Newt had already taken the keys to the front desk with him.

"Let's get going then," Thalia said waiting for him a few feet away. "I'm sure already has a plan for where we're going next."

* * *

As it turned out, Newt hadn't had much of a plan. He'd managed to get a bunch of maps from the front desk and then after studying them for several minutes on a picnic table at the side of the parking lot had declared he was prepared enough to apparate them to the location of where they could start looking for the Thunderbirds... keyword being start. A timely growl from Thalia's stomach had drawn them up short, and the two teens had to spend a few more minutes convincing the older wizard that they really did need to stop for some breakfast before kicking off their adventure.

Walking down the street to a small sparsely populated diner, they'd been able to obtain some food, that while not amazing, at least appeased their hunger for the time being. It hadn't taken Newt long after they finished to shoo them outside. Dipping out of sight behind the building, where the only thing of interest was a few smelly garbage dumpsters, he was quick to grab both their arms and disapparate away with a small twist and a sound akin to car backfiring.

That was how they'd ended up here, staring up at the full glory of Red Rock State Park. A large forest stretched out before them with a few spires of giant red coloured rock jutting out of the ground as if trying to pierce the very heavens.

"This is where the Thunderbirds are?" Harry asked, feeling unsure as the enormity of what they were trying to accomplish settled into his mind.

"Somewhere in the park, yes," the magizoologist said as his eyes scanned the horizon.

"Wait, you don't know where it is in here?" He asked.

"No one's seen the nest in person, so we don't know the exact location," he explained. "But normal sightings over the years have told us it's somewhere in here. Before this whole mess, there were actually a lot of restrictions in place around here to make sure they weren't disturbed."

"Putting a bounty on them seems like a pretty radical shift in policy from that," Thalia spoke up.

"The protection of the Statute of Secrecy trumps all for MACUSA," Newt said gravely, and Harry couldn't find any room to argue with that statement. It pretty much described the American magical government perfectly.

"So what do we do then?" She asked.

"We walk," the older wizard answered, gesturing towards the forest. Without another word, he started moving, and the two teens found themselves sharing a look of disbelief.

Their trek through the trees was pretty uneventful for quite awhile. The terrain was difficult, with lots of uneven ground, dense foliage, all kinds of hidden roots, and felled branches. It wasn't actually too bad for the two demigods, both being in incredible shape and used to physical labour. Even after being pleasantly surprised by how well Newt had been able to keep up with them the day before, he was still surprised at how well he did here. He wasn't afraid to clear his path with magic, slicing through plant life with ease, but this didn't help him with the rough ground. For the first time, Harry was able to tell that his age was taking its toll on him. He was still doing remarkably well, probably better than some almost 80 years his junior might do, but he was definitely tiring.

"What is that?" Almost an hour into their hike, Thalia's tone drew his attention away from where he'd been watching Newt in concern.

Following her gaze, he found his own mouth falling open at the devastation wrought before him. A huge swath of trees were just gone. Broken trunks still stuck up from the ground at odd intervals, all that's left of the other end being splintered wood. If it weren't clear that most of the trees had clearly been mowed down by some kind of physical force, he would have thought the damage had been caused by a fire. It was easy to see scorch marks dotting across the newly made meadow. Even some the trees still standing around the perimeter hadn't escaped whatever had caused this.

"It's what we've been looking for," Newt answered. "This is why MACUSA has ordered the Thunderbirds put down."

"They did this?" The daughter of Zeus sounded flabbergasted, and Harry couldn't help but throw an odd look her way. He had thought she knew all about them… well, he couldn't really criticize. He'd read up on them before and had known how powerful they could be, but it was nothing compared to seeing evidence in person.

"Yes," he said gravely. "When provoked, Thunderbirds can do untold amounts of damage, but they are usually not a violent creature. This kind of behavior is not normal."

Watching Newt move into the clearing, Harry was a bit surprised to see that he seemed to be sniffing the air while running his hand along one of the downed trees. Taking a few experimental sniffs himself, he didn't notice anything that out of the ordinary. It was just the normal smell of flowers and other plants, maybe a hint of decay that was normal for a forest such as this. There was a bit of a smokey smell as well, but that made sense to him considering the scorched trees around them.

"Did you notice something?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," the older man muttered, a contemplative look on his face. He turned back to look at them fully after another few moments. "I think that's all we're going to see here. Let's keep going."

Looking renewed by their short stop, Newt lead the way, and the two teens suddenly found themselves having to hurry to keep up.

"That's it?" Thalia asked, pulling up beside the magizoologist. "Shouldn't we have looked around some more?"

"The Thunderbirds were long gone. There wasn't anything else to find," he replied. "But it means we are on the right track, so keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual."

Continuing on mostly in silence, the walk became much like it had before. Deciding to conserve energy themselves, the two demigods starting following along the path that Newt was clearing instead of trudging straight through the bush like before. Harry even got his own wand free to help, not that he could do much beyond some simple cutting charms on branches in this circumstance.

It was after another hour and a bit into their hike that Harry started to take notice of the weather. The sky was getting darker, clouds having been rolling in from all sides for a while. It was actually only because of Thalia that he'd even noticed. She'd started to look almost jumpy as time went on, small glances being shot skyward every so often as she walked.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a low voice, sidling up beside her.

"I'm fine!" She snapped back with what looked like a flash of lightning dancing in her blue eyes. Face flushing red, she stomped ahead, putting distance between them.

"Trouble in paradise?" Newt asked with an amused expression on his face, even with his own obvious weariness.

"It'll be fine," Harry sighed, completely missing the older man's implication.

Spirits down, he was sure that Thalia was still upset with him about the whole thing with his mother. He hoped she wouldn't hold it against him for too long… or that he hadn't messed up their friendship for good. Little did he know that Thalia had already forgiven him and was instead focused on something much different. Not having experience with girls, he hadn't yet realized that some responded quite… violently… to embarrassment, and waking up how they did, had been plenty embarrassing for a certain daughter of Zeus.

"Anyways, are we heading more towards that thing," Harry asked, indicating towards one of the very large red rock spire looming before them, "Or are we heading down into the valley?"

Newt stopped walking, a pensive look on his face, "It wouldn't surprise me if the Thunderbirds have made their nest on one of those spires. It would explain why no one has seen them before."

"So we should keep on going forward and forget the valley?" Harry asked. Thalia had stopped as well, listening to their conversation.

"We could, but we don't know for sure that this is the right spire," he said, still looking thoughtful.

"So what do we do?" Harry's eyes fell on the next spire. He really did not want to have to walk all the way there. He couldn't help but wish he had brought his broom with him.

Much to his confusion, Newt began sniffing the air once again, not looking like he was finding anything he was looking for… that was until the small breeze picked up. A look of recognition on his face, Newt's eyes locked back on the spire before them, "We're going there."

"What?" Thalia looked completely flummoxed, and once again the two demigods hurried to catch up with their older traveling companion.

Newt didn't answer any of their questions, marching forward with a determined expression. It only took another 10 minutes for them to reach the vertical face of the cliff. The magizoologist stopped before it, his neck craning as he looked around him. Harry and Thalia were once again sharing confused glances, even despite their earlier awkwardness.

"Aha!" The exclamation was enough to make the two teens jump. "I knew it!"

With a large swish of his wand, Harry watched as something previously unseen was levitated out of the high branches of a nearby tree. It took him a moment to figure out what it was, but as it hit the ground with a small thump, he finally realized that it looked to be some kind of strange barrel.

"Don't touch it!" Newt's quick warning stopped Harry in his tracks as began to move forward curiously.

"What is it?" He asked instead.

"If my suspicions are correct, something that proves there is more going on here than meets the eye," the old wizard replied with a dark look crossing his face.

Mumbling something under his breath, wand pointed at the barrel, Harry heard a small pop as the lid seemed to unseal itself. With another swish and flick, it was levitated out of the way and set softly on the ground.

Leaning forward to get a better view, Harry went to go ask another question but instead found himself recoiling. The smell coming from that container hit him like a physical blow. It was that same scent of death and decay that he'd noticed in the other clearing before, but a million times more pungent. It set his senses on fire and his mind spinning.

Eyes watering from the smell and gasping for breath, Harry stumbled back a few steps, trying to escape the fumes. Finally moving far enough away, he found that he was somewhat free from the horrible stench though his thoughts still felt a bit muddled. Bent over with his hands braced on his knees, he just worked on catching his breath. Once that was accomplished, he pushed himself back up straight, looking around. That was when he noticed that something clearly wasn't right. Panic gripped his insides as he tried to clear his suddenly distorted sense of sight, only to loosen when he realized a moment later that his head was trapped in some kind of weird yet obviously harmless bubble. Looking at Newt, it seemed that his head was covered too and he was in the process if casting the same thing over Thalia.

"What is that?" He asked again, but his voice came out muffled, echoing in his own ears.

Stumbling back over towards the barrel, he looked down on the roiling liquid. It was a dark inky black colour as if the potion were somehow absorbing all of the surrounding light into its mysterious depths. The dark fumes were clearly visible as they rose into the air. Whatever this was, it was affecting him strangely, even if Newt's magic had stopped the worst of it. He needed to get rid of it… it needed to be destroyed. Without giving it any more thought than that, he summoned up a ball of fire in the palm of his hand and threw it down into the container.

"Harry! No!" He barely even had started to turn his head towards the older wizard when the potions exploded.

He hit the ground with a resounding force, knocking all air from his lungs. Gasping feebly for the second time in a few minutes, Harry lay there blinking uncomprehendingly up at the sky. It was several confused moments before the pain hit him… but hit him it did. His ears were ringing, and his vision was swimming even worse than when he'd taken a whiff of that potion. Groaning aloud, even if he couldn't hear himself, he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. Harry was very much aware that he hadn't made a very smart decision, and was starting to wonder why he'd even done it in the first place.

Thalia was by his side in a second, her hands hovering nervously over him. It was only as the ringing started to fade that he realized she had been talking to him. "Harry! Harry! Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"I've been better," he grunted, pulling out his wand.

"Should get the nectar and ambrosia?" She asked, already pulling on his pack, but he just shook his head.

"I can deal with this easily enough," he said, dismissing her concerns. He didn't waste any time in starting to trace one of his small scrapes with his wand, sealing the wound up before their very eyes. "Save that in case of something more serious."

Looking around, he found Newt. The old wizard stood out in the open, an expression of pure concentration on his face as he guided what remained of the black fumes into a giant floating bubble, not letting anything escape. With one last exaggerated jab of his wand, the bubble popped, disappearing from view with all its contents.

"What was that?" He asked him, dissolving into a coughing fit right after. It felt like some of that stuff was still trapped inside of him. It left him feeling suitably grimy, both inside and out, and unsure if even a hundred showers would be enough to let him feel clean.

"That was the Drought of Derangement," Newt said, clearly out of breath. "It was banned internationally by the ICW over a hundred years ago. The potion was originally developed as a way to subdue magical creatures on hunts. It would work by triggering their innate primal instincts and overwhelming their senses. As horrible as that sounds, it was actually the creatures that it failed to work on that caused the problem. The more powerful creatures were resistant. The potion doesn't overwhelm them like it does the smaller ones. Instead, it tends to drive them into a frenzied rage."

"And that's what's been driving the Thunderbirds wild?" Thalia asked, a horrified expression on her face.

"I believe so," he said. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"I'm actually surprised the ICW would ban a potion like that," Harry commented, starting to feel a bit better. "I completely understand why it should be, but it's still surprising. The ICW hasn't even outlawed the Killing Curse. Many countries have done so on an individual basis but for the ICW to lay down an international law… well, it usually is pretty serious."

"While both magical England and magical America may not seem to care much about magical creatures, it's very different on the international scene. The ICW is quite committed to their protection, something I do take a bit of pride in helping to implement during my life," Newt explained. "However, that's not the reasoning here. There was an incident... during the late mid 18th Century where the Drought of Derangement was used on a group of dragons that the Spanish Ministry of Magic wanted dealt with. They flew into a rage and ended up wiping out the entirety of a nearby town. No one was left alive… they were all slaughtered… men… women… children."

Thalia's face was pale, "That's awful."

"Indeed," he agreed. Explanation done, Newt's eyes were one again darting across their surroundings. "We don't have any more time to discuss history though, we need to hurry!"

As if to emphasize that point, thunder rumbled across the ever darkening sky. A strong wind blew through the trees, and it was quite apparent to him that the temperature was ever so slowly dropping. Tearing his gaze away from the sky, Harry was surprised to see that Newt had already commenced walking. Hurrying to keep up, the wind howled once more. So loud was the noise, he didn't even notice what sounded like the cry of some great bird in the distance.

* * *

If anyone were to ask Harry before leaving on their quest if he had anticipated being held at wand point by a group of magical animal poachers, he'd be the first to admit that something like this hadn't exactly come to mind. Fighting some random monsters attracted to his and Thalia's godly heritage? Sure. Potentially dealing with magical law enforcement? That had also been a risk he'd been willing to take… but this felt like some kind of Indiana Jones adventure movie... albeit with magic, but the point still stands. That was exactly what was happening currently, and to Harry's dismay, he recognized the men before them as well.

"It seems you didn't take my polite warning to heart Mr. Scamander," the large man in charge the group they'd met the day before said. He still spoke in that calm voice that as if nothing more exciting were happening than a simple business transaction.

"Like I said yesterday, he's probably too old understand what's going on," one of the other men, who Harry thought he remembered being named Sebastian, sneered.

He wasn't drunk and slurring his words anymore, but that didn't seem to improve his personality at all. Harry had to grit his teeth and hold himself back from being stupid. They could deal with a few insults... besides, Newt wasn't looking particularly bothered as he stared down the wizard opposite him.

"As much as I appreciate a friendly warning, I'm afraid I just can't abide by it," his response to the original comment was also given in a very matter of fact tone though there was a certain amount of determination behind his words that one couldn't miss.

"I can respect a man that sticks to his convictions no matter what," the boss said.

"Really?" Harry was sceptical.

The gruff man nodded in the affirmative. Even though it had been his question, he hadn't taken his eyes off of Newt, "I can. I like to think that we are similar in that regard, and that's why my personal feelings on the matter doesn't change anything."

The trio was summarily restrained after that. They were tied to one of the large trees nearby with some thick conjured rope, another barrel of that potion already sitting up above their heads.

"I'm assuming this was your plan from the start then?" Newt asked a few moments later as Sebastian roughly pulled a wand out of his pocket. "You set up the Drought of Derangement, something most people shouldn't even know exists, up in the area all to cause the Thunderbirds to act up. The risks posed to both wizard and muggle-kind are astronomical, and all to force MACUSA to remove the protected status on this species?"

"Shut up you old fool!" The wizard spat in his face.

"Enough," the leader interrupted. "Go finish our preparations."

Scowling he stormed off in a huff.

"They don't seem to have any wands, boss," the other nervous looking lackey said. He jumped back with a small yelp as Thalia jammed a foot inter his shins when he tried to search her.

"They're school age. They don't let their kids carry their wands during the summer over here. Go and help Sebastian. We're moving out soon," the other man moved closer, "As for your question, you misunderstand us. This isn't the kind of job I'd usually take. As you said, too much risk, but fortunately we were suitably compensated by our employer. The fact that we were allowed to poach the birds too, it was just icing on the cake."

Harry's thoughts were racing. This didn't make much sense at all, "If that's the case then your employers want something. It can't be the Thunderbirds themselves since they are letting you have them."

For the first time, the man's gaze settled on Harry fully. There was a weight behind that gaze that had Harry thinking that if he hadn't already met with gods and other creatures of myth and legend, he might have faltered then and there. Since that wasn't the case, however, his returned the look with equal measure.

"You're a smart young man," he said. "I don't know what my employers end goal is. With the birds here they can't get ahold of this land for some reason. I don't know what they want with it or what their end goal is. I get paid to do a job. End of story."

"I'm surprised you'd want to give even that much away," Harry's eyebrows narrowed.

There was silence for a moment as the man turned away, "I don't like killing kids. It's not a job I would normally take on... but it seems I don't have much choice."

"What?!" Thalia yelled out, and even Harry couldn't help but pull against his bonds, but they only seemed to grow tighter.

"It's no use struggling. The rope will grow tighter the more you do," he stopped a few feet away, glancing back at Newt one more time. "You shouldn't have brought the children with you. It's your fault I have to go this far."

Without another word, he walked off, and despite his warnings, Harry could hear Thalia struggling against her restraints. It didn't take long before the echoing cracks of disapperation rang across the makeshift camp alerting them to the fact that their captors had left.

"Remind me again why we allowed them to capture us?" The daughter of Zeus asked him a few seconds later, sounding very disgruntled.

"So we could learn what exactly was going on here," Harry reminded her. "Plus, now they'll be underestimating us even more."

Calling upon his divine heritage, a small flame burst into life in his hands. Twisting his arms as much as he could, he angled the fire towards his bindings. It didn't take long for the conjured rope to catch alight and moments later he was free. Standing up, he rubbed his wrists, taking a moment look around.

"A little help?" Thalia said, a single dark eyebrow raised expectantly. Harry hurried to free her as well, pulling out the dagger his mother had given him the night before. The Celestial Bronze blade cut through the enchanted rope with ease. "I'm a little confused though. He was going on about having to kill us, and then he just left us here."

"If we'd stayed here, the Thunderbirds would have taken care of us in their rage," Newt told her, his head glancing up at the barrel containing the Drought of Derangement suspended above their heads while Harry worked on freeing him as well.

As the older wizard brushed himself off, Harry bent down, lifting his pant leg and unrolling his sock to reveal a polished wand handle. Pulling it free, he handed the magical focus over to Newt. "Here. We better hurry though, I need to get my wand back from that asshole Sebastian."

"I still don't get why you couldn't just hide both your wands," Thalia interjected.

"I would've been to too suspicious," Harry told her. "There's no way someone like Newt would have come here without a wand, but as you heard earlier, it's expected for us to be unarmed. It was more important for Newt to have his wand than me anyway, which is the reason we switched before we allowed ourselves to be caught."

"We should get moving," Newt interrupted them. "We don't have much time."

Flicking his wand like he had earlier, he levitated the large barrel down from the tree, so it hit the ground with a small thump, and then with another series of precise movements, a shimmering bubble fell over top of it.

"Shouldn't we destroy it?" Harry asked. He wasn't going to do a repeat of earlier, Newt could do the honours this time.

"No. It's good to keep for evidence," he replied. He held out his arms. "Now, grab on. I'll apparate us up to the top of this cliff."

The old magizoologist twisted on the spot… and stumbled when nothing happened. Harry had to grab him tightly by his upper arm to stop him from falling, "What's going on?"

"Anti-apparition wards," he scowled. "I'm not sure when they had time to put these up."

"Then how are we going to get up there? We don't have time to climb!" Harry ran his hand through his own hair in agitation, eyes darting all around him as he searched for a solution before his gaze settled on Thalia. "How much control do you have over your power?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The wind. You have some control over the wind, right? How much can you do?" He pressed her.

"I don't know! Some… I guess," she said, still looking confused.

"Ok, well I'm going to need you to use the wind to lift us all up to the top of the cliff," he told her seriously. "I know it will probably be hard, bu-"

"HARD?" She took a step back her eyes wide. "No way! I can't do that!"

"I'm sure you can-"

"No!" She shook her head back and forth wildly. "I can't do that. It won't work."

Harry studied her for a moment. Thalia looked much more against the idea than simply not believing she could do it, but he decided to ask her about that at a later point.

"Ok then," he could feel a headache coming on, and began murmuring to himself. "If only I had my broom with me."

"I may have something to help with that," Newt said opening his suitcase that had been thrown to the side during their earlier capture. "They're a bit old, but hopefully should do the trick."

With another flick of his wand, two brooms came flying out of depths of his case. "Are those Cleansweep Fives?"

He tossed one to Harry, "Mount up."

"You're right about them being old, but they should do just fine," Harry said more to himself than anyone else. "Come on, Thalia. You can ride behind me."

"What? No… I can't get on that thing!" She said, her eyes widening to a considerable degree.

Harry looked at her in confusion, "I know you've never ridden a broom before, but I can assure you it's perfectly safe. This is our only way up anyways."

"I- I- I don't know…" she stuttered.

"Thalia," he waited until she looked him in the eye. "What's wrong."

Visibly seeming to gather herself, she whispered, "I'm scared of heights."

Harry had to bite back on the instinctive comeback on the irony of her being a child of Zeus who was scared heights since it was very clear for him to see how much this was upsetting her. His expression softened. "I'm sorry to say this is our only option at the moment, but I want you to know that I'll keep you safe. I won't let you fall, I promise."

They held each other's gaze for a few more moments before Thalia finally broke the connection, slowly walking towards him and throwing her leg over the broom. The loud crash of thunder reverberated through the air followed by an echoed screech.

"You two can work out your differences later. We need to leave now!" Newt called over the sudden roar of the wind.

Thalia's arms which had already wrapped around his waist tightened considerably at that moment. He spoke lowly over his shoulder, "It's ok. Just hold on tight and close your eyes if you have to. We'll be there in no time."

Then, without giving her any more time to overthink it, Harry kicked off from the ground, Newt following closely behind. The familiar swooping feeling that he always got in his stomach when flying was there, but he couldn't enjoy the sense of freedom it usually offered as Thalia's firm grip became more like the coils of some great snake that was trying to crush the life out of him. The wind whipped past them as they shot upwards into the sky and Harry actually had to fight harder than he'd anticipated to keep the broom under control. Keeping on course was of paramount importance as the weather around them started to turn for the worst.

Reaching their desired height, they began circling the rock outcropping. Putting his skills as a seeker to use, it didn't take him to long to spot where they needed to go. The group of wizards and the several giant hawk-like birds were not at all subtle. Motioning towards Newt, who nodded his head, they both began descending down towards the action.

Pulling up harder than usual, Harry brought them to rest on the ground as softly as he could, though he was still swift on his dismount. Only take a second to analyze the scene, Harry unsheathed his sword from his back, unsure how helpful it would actually be when dealing with mortals. Luckily it hadn't been taken from him as he'd done his best to keep it hidden with the mist.

As Thalia pulled out her spear and shield, Harry other hand dropped down to his pocket, unconsciously searched for the wand that wasn't there. Grimacing, he went to pull his hand free when it rubbed up against something else. Something he'd forgotten that he had on him. With his fingers gripping the small piece of enchanted cardstock between them, he poured his magic into it, activating its charm. It seems like they were going to have some backup after all.

Before he had a chance to think more about this new development, another cry split the air, this one much louder than the one before. A wall of wind slammed into the trio only a moment later, making them all stagger. Fighting to remain on their feet, it was Harry that noticed the rhythmic sound they'd started to hear was, in fact, enormous wingbeats. A large bird rose into view.

The Thunderbird pretty much looked how it was described in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but that didn't mean seeing an eagle-like bird of that size, especially when it was already crackling with electricity, wasn't awe-inspiring. The way it moved seemed more like a force of nature than the weather it was currently affecting. How could anyone ever think of trying to harm something so beautiful… but unfortunately, that was exactly what they did.

A volley of curses shot through the air towards the creature. Some missed as the Thunderbird rolled through the air while yet others still splashed across the thick feathers that lined its body.

"We need to stop this! Now!" Newt yelled.

Not ones to waste time, the two demigods charged forward at nearly inhuman speeds. Newt followed behind, his wand already moving and flashing as he deflected some of the magic heading toward the bird.

"What's going on?" Sebastian was screaming to his colleagues. "I thought the damn thing was going to head for the potion! Why did it turn on us?"

Any response he may have gotten was lost as Harry slammed his shoulder into the guy's chest, knocking him flying back. Moving to finish disarming him, Harry was interrupted something hit his side. With the breath knocked out of him once again, he was bodily thrown away from his opponent and sent rolling across the rocky ground. His blade clattered loudly across the stone as was forced to let go of it lest he accidentally impale himself as he fell.

Despite gasping for breath, Harry twisted his body, rolling even farther to the side as soon as he could. He was glad he did as the ground exploded a moment later where he had been. Tucking his chin, he pulled himself in a sitting position, his eyes alighting on his attacker. Even in battle, the leader of this little group didn't show any emotions so Harry had to rely completely on being able to read the minute movements of the wizard's body to predict what he would do next.

Seeing the telltale twitch that indicated to him that the man was about to raise his wand again, Harry thrust his hands outwards, allowing a torrent of fire to spew forth. The wizard staggered back, cursing loudly though he was able to easily put out the fire with a wave of his wand. The fire he could conjure wandlessly was thanks to his godly heritage, yet despite that, it was still nothing more than regular fire. For anything of the more magical variety, he needed a wand though he could still control most flames quite easily without it.

With his momentary reprieve, Harry scrambled back to his feet, his eyes roving around to check on his companions. Newt seemed to be doing ok, trading spells furiously with Sebastian, who had seemingly recovered from the hit Harry had given him a few moments before. The third member of their group was easily dodging and sidestepping spells as she attempted to get close to the last guy. He was casting quite half-heartedly, in Harry's opinion, looking more scared of Thalia than she was of him.

Avoiding curses that seemed to be leaving small craters in the ground, Harry felt like he was stepping through a minefield. Harry continued to launch small bursts of fire, but it didn't do much. He was pretty sure the other wizard had cast a flame freezing charm on himself since he had completely stopped trying to avoid them.

Finally getting close enough, Harry got ready to fight hand to hand. Putting all his weight behind his first strike, he swung at the wizard, hoping to catch him off guard and, if he was lucky, disarm him. Harry did not expect his fist to be stopped mid-swing, caught in the older man's hand, and have his arm slowly twisted backward as if he were no more than an unruly child being put in their place by their elder. Demi-gods were exactly as the name suggested, part god. They were faster, stronger, more durable than your average human. Even wizards, for all their magic, had no help with their physical strength, so being overpowered in a contest of strength was not something he had expected here.

Despite being the one taken aback, Harry had been trained for this his whole life. Summoning up his fire once again, he twisted his arms against the man's grip. He knew his flames wouldn't hurt him now, but humanities self-preservation instincts are not something that can be overcome so easily. During that moment, before his rational brain took over, the other wizard's body flinched back involuntarily. It may not seem like a very dramatic reaction to some, but Harry knew exactly how to capitalize on that moment, and within a half second, he had broken free from his grasp.

Moving back to make some space as he thought up a new plan, his opponent still on his feet despite the maneuver Harry had just pulled, eyed Harry calculatingly. Just coming up with possible paths to try and work his way inside the man's guard, someone else collided with the wizard instead. He didn't even stumble, and instead, the man was picked up Thalia's former opponent by the scruff of his neck.

"What are you doing?" He growled. "Are you letting that little girl best you?"

"But she has a spear," he whined. "And the damn bird isn't going after the potion. I can't do anything while protecting myself from it."

The boss had turned himself partially away from Harry as he spoke. Not letting this chance pass up, he charged in once more. He was going to get him this time. If he could even just get his hand on the man's wand, he'd burn it to a crisp.

"Forget our original plan!" He barked at his subordinate while, not even turning to look at Harry, his elbow lashed out hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying back across the rocky terrain. "Just kill the bird."

Groaning at the latest hit, Harry was sure that his back was probably all scraped up by now. Planning on pulling himself back up, he was quickly disabused of that idea as something heavy landed on his chest, causing the back of his head to crack against the stone beneath him. Blinking away the sudden stars he was seeing, it took a moment for Harry to realize that the metallic clang he had heard was not, in fact, the sound of his head hitting the ground nor what had actually caused this fall. Someone's foot was firmly planted on his chest, holding him down.

"You've fought well for someone so young," the wizard said as he aimed his wand at Harry's head. Fumbling for something to help him, his hand closed around an unfamiliar hilt strapped to his waist. "But unfortunately for you, it ends here."

Acting on his training without any other further thought, Harry yanked the blade free and jabbed into the leg holding him down. The wizard screamed as tumbled back, the dagger his mother had gifted him being pulled free as he did so, probably causing even more damage on the way out. It took a second for what had happened to really sink in, but when it did, Harry couldn't help but look down at small blade in shock.

Celestial Bronze could harm wizards? He's always been told it could only hurt monsters and those with a godly heritage. Chiron had first described wizards to him as mortals with the ability to wield the powers of magic. It was a formidable ability, yet they were definitely still mortal. He'd never directly tested celestial bronze on a wizard till now, but it seemed like there was more to this than he'd originally thought.

Scrambling back to his feet, twirled the dagger in his hands, sparing a glance at his downed opponent. Seeing how he was clutching his leg, he left him where he was, though he would admit the loud crunch of the man's dropped wand snapping under his heel was satisfying. He didn't think he'd be causing him much more trouble now.

Darting forward towards another dueling pair, Harry dove down into a baseball slide slashing his dagger along the back of Newt's opponent's legs. Like his boss, he cried out in pain, falling to the ground as they were no longer able to support him. Tucking into a roll at the last second, he managed to pop back up to his feet, swiping his sword from where he'd dropped it earlier.

Holstering the smaller of the two blades, Harry looked around just in time to hear another loud screech from the Thunderbird, crackling electricity building up along its body with each flap of its wings.

"Watch out!" He yelled as he helplessly ran towards Thalia who stood planted firmly in the creature's path.

He shouldn't have worried, and if this hadn't been the heat of battle, he probably wouldn't have gotten so worked up. A bolt of lightning shot forth from the Thunderbird's tail feathers, splitting the air with its defining crack of thunder. What happened next was what reminded Harry exactly who his friend's father was. Seeming to move in slow motion, it was almost as if Thalia caught the bolt of lightning in her hand, and absorbing it into her body as she twirled around, she launched it free with her other hand, through the shaft of her spear which just happened to have been pointed at her opponent. If they hadn't just tried to kill them, Harry might have felt bad for the guy being hit with close to 300 kilovolts of electricity, but he could really muster up much sympathy at the moment.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked as he finally reached her side. Thalia seemed to be breathing a bit heavier than usual.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm fine. That wasn't as hard as summoning it myself but its still tiring."

There was another loud crack, and Harry didn't even have a chance for his eyes to widen at the bolt heading right towards him from the furious bird. With a flick of her spear, the lightning seemed to change course mid-air, slamming into the ground not too far away from them instead. Letting out another piercing cry to the heavens above, the great magical creature rose even higher, continuing to buffet them with the winds created by its wings.

"I don't understand," Thalia yelled over the roar of the wind. "We've basically taken care of the bad guys, why is it still freaking out?"

Harry didn't know, and before he could tell his friend as much, something else caught his attention. A series of much quieter pops appeared all over the cliff as red-robed figures twisted into view. The Aurors had arrived! They must have broken the anti-apparition charm without him noticing.

Against all belief, the wind seemed to grow even stronger at this point, and Harry even found himself staggering under its onslaught. About the only one who didn't look to be struggling under the wind's fierce barrage was Thalia. Hearing all kinds of shouting between the newcomers, it all stopped quite suddenly when they were forced to dive aside as the Thunderbird dive-bombed them.

"We need backup!" One of them was shouting. "Someone inform HQ!"

Lightning crackled around them once more, and Harry could see it striking all around the mountain as the storm centered above them grew larger and larger in diameter. If something wasn't done soon, the damage would start to spread into more heavily populated mortal areas.

Moving slowly and carefully towards Thalia just in case, Harry did his best just to remain safe. Finally reaching her side, he had no reservations on grabbing her hand to make sure that he wasn't blown off of the cliff. Despite the craziness of everything around them, for a moment Harry would almost describe things as calm as he surveyed the cliff top once again.

That only lasted for a moment before reinforcements arrived. Popping into place in obviously preset positions, they surrounded the violent creature launching a flurry of spells without hesitation.

"WAIT!" Thalia's cried out beside him. "STOP IT!"

Harry wasn't sure how he knew, but he could feel her power stirring. He pulled back on her hand, "Don't. We can't directly interfere with MACUSA Aurors like that. You might get caught in the crossfire."

"But they're killing it!" She rebutted.

"I know," he said, eyes darting around. "I'll think of something. I-"

"It's too late now," Newt spoke up from behind them, his statement punctuated by another screech from the battling bird. "They're putting her down."

"B-b-but after everything we went through… they can't just-" the daughter of Zeus started.

"She was exposed to too much of the potion over time," he explained, a surprisingly hollow look on his face. "This last bit was enough to make her snap completely. You can tell by the rate at which the storm is forming as well as the visible electrical buildup along her wings. She's just a danger to everyone now."

With another simultaneous shout from the assembled Aurors, and several bright flashes of light, everything seemed to still as the great bird seemed to almost freeze mid-flight, and finally, fall from the sky. He was shocked when Thalia proceeded to turn and bury her face into his chest, not watching as the Aurors methodically put down one of her father's sacred animals.

It didn't take long for things to fall completely silent and somehow the permanence of that seemed even worse than hearing the thunderbirds rage.

"It seems like it's done," Newt said resignedly, moving off out of his field of vision while Thalia surprised him by letting out a small sniffle. He wrapped one arm around her slim frame and began patting her back with some hesitation, unsure of how to console her.

"Harry!" He jumped back a moment later, releasing his friend, as an unexpected voice called out to him.

"Sirius?" He asked bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

"They called in some hit-wizards for backup after the initial Aurors arrived," he explained, grabbing his godson by the shoulder, eyes roving over him as if checking him over for injuries. "Forget that, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, I… ugh-" He tried to search for a way to explain the whole situation without it sounding ridiculous. He knew telling him that they'd run away from camp to try and stop the government from killing a magical creature didn't really sound that great.

"You know what? It doesn't matter, we'll discuss this later," he fixed Harry with a cross look, "Do you know how much I've been worrying ever since I received word from Chiron that you'd disappeared the other day?"

Harry looked down towards the ground. He hadn't really thought that he might have worried Sirius. He should've at least sent him a note that he was ok.

"Sorry…" he met his godfather's eye, before glancing away guiltily once again. It was a good thing he did, however, as he spotted one of the other hit-wizards rounding up the poachers. "My wand. The big guy over there, he's the leader of this group. He has my wand. MACUSA can't realize that it's not locked up in school!"

"Calm down," Sirius told him, squeezing the shoulder his hand was resting on before removing it as he glanced over at where Harry had been looking. "I'll take care of it. Just stay here and don't get into any more trouble!"

He watched as Sirius strode over to his coworker and start talking to him, motioning about something with his hands towards the wizard Harry had downed. In addition to his leg injury, which had already been wrapped in some conjured bandages, he was tied tightly with rope. The other hit-wizard backed off a moment later, observing them as Sirius searched him before he too backed off with apparently empty hands. He really hoped he'd found his wand.

"What about the young ones?" The question came from an unknown voice just barely within the range of his hearing.

"Don't we just leave them?" Someone else asked.

"They're too young to survive on their own…" was the answer given. "It might be more of a kindness to put them down with the mother instead of letting them starve."

"Couldn't someone from the Department of Magical Creatures do something?"

"I have a friend in the department, and I don't think they are allowed to interact with Thunderbirds too much," another voice said. "There's some kind of law about that. It's supposed to be to protect them from our interference though. If there are no parents left… well, they're usually put down."

"NO!" A familiar voice called out. "You can't kill them!"

Harry spun on his heel, her name escaping his lips in shock, "Thalia."

"They aren't infected right?" She demanded from the assembled Aurors she had pushed passed. They stared at her in surprise obviously not expecting her interference.

"No…" one of them started, but she quickly cut them off.

"Than you can't kill them!" She cried. "They're babies! They're innocent! They shouldn't have to suffer for their parent's crimes!"

"Listen here, Miss. You need to calm down," one of the Aurors said. "They'll die anyway on their own. Putting them down would be a mercy."

"I'll take care of them then!" She snapped back. "This is ridiculous!"

"Raising XXXX class magical beasts is strictly illegal," he retorted. "Now, listen here. This is an active crime scene, and you're still a person of interest in the day's events. We've humored you long enough. Step aside and let us do our jobs."

"I won't! Not when your so-called job is another word for murder!" Harry's eyes widened as Thalia freed her spear from it's her hidden form and expanded her shield.

She took a wide stance, low to the ground, the tip of her weapon tracing a line in the air across. It was good for defense and allowed her to shield to provide maximum protection. Things had been clearing up since the Thunderbird's death, but once more thunder rumbled across the sky. The law enforcement officers all took a collective step back at the sight of the replica Aegis shield on her arm. She made an imposing sight, standing strong before the giant nest behind her. Two small feathered forms, the ones currently at the center of this situation, were just barely visible within.

"If you want to harm them, you'll have to get through me!" Electricity sparked along her spear at her words, and her blue eyes seemed to almost shine as she glared at those before her.

Harry was already in motion when the Aurors' wands started moving to point at his friend. Careful to not actually harm any of them, he rolled under their outstretched arms and released a quick but blinding flash of fire from the palm of his hand. Spring back to his feet, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Thalia, he held his own blade before him, making his intentions completely clear.

"Threatening an Auror is not a good move," one of the men said. "It seems I'll have to teach both of you lesson on respect."

"You better not touch one hair on my godson's head, Smith," Sirius had returned at some point in the last few seconds, and his wand pointed at the Auror who had spoken. "That goes for his friend too."

"Black, why am I not surprised that it's your godson that's in trouble the law?" Auror Smith's eyes narrowed as he looked at the hit-wizard. "Or that you break protocol and threaten your superior officer?"

A few of the other Aurors and hit-wizards shifted uncomfortably, suddenly looking uncertain whether they should still be holding the teenagers at wand point, be turning them on Sirius, or Auror Smith instead. Smith's hand twitched, and Sirius matched him.

"Just try it," he said. "I know you've wanted to test yourself against me ever since I was recruited for the department… against your protests."

The Auror's eyes flickered around him once again, his tongue darting out to wet his lips nervously. He seemed to be building himself up to something, his grip on his wand noticeably tightening even from where Harry stood. Just when Harry thought that he was finally going to snap and try to curse his godfather, the man let out a big breath, some of the tension he was carrying abating.

"I'm sure you'd like that," he finally said. "But I have a job to do. So I need you to tell these kids to step aside so we can do it."

The tension that had been slowly easing away suddenly skyrocketed back up once again. Both demigods shifted slightly, still at the ready from before.

"No way!" Thalia denied again. Harry's mind was already readying himself for a fight, knowing all the while that this could spell the end of his time living amongst MACUSA. He could see the look on Sirius' face and knew he was going to try and get them to step aside. It was just like he could tell that nothing was going to stop Thalia now and he was not going to allow her to fight alone.

There was a moment of silence, the fragile peace before battle hanging on a knife's edge as everyone waited, with bated breath, for how Sirius was going to handle this. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his mouth to speak, but a different voice was heard instead.

"What's going on over here?" Another wizard stepped up into the circle, parting the crowd with ease.

"These kids were involved with the events that happened here earlier, sir," the Auror who'd threatened them before jumped in without hesitation. "They're carrying muggle weaponry and threatened our lives when we asked them to move and let us go about our jobs."

"That's not true!" Thalia countered. "He's trying to-"

"The boy is Black's godson as well," he spoke over her. "I've never seen a clearer case of conflict of interest. He even threatened me as well."

"-kill the young uninfected Thunderbirds too!" She finished, feeling like she'd barely been heard.

"I see," There was a moment of silence before the man obviously in charge responded, his eyes locked surprisingly onto Thalia's shield without blinking, "Stand down men, the children will be allowed to leave-"

The Auror from before began to protest, "You can't honestly just let them off, can you? I don't care if Black's godson has all the Brits fawning over him or not. He's not above the law…"

The rest of whatever he had planned to say seemed to die in his mouth at the look his superior leveled him with.

"They should at least get a warning for using magic outside of school… wandless or not," he finished quietly.

"There are other factors at play with these two that are above your pay grade Auror Smith," he said before reiterating, "As I said, the children will be free to go, but unfortunately our hands are tied on the other matter. MACUSA removed the laws making it illegal to hunt them, but for the sake of expediency did not take away the rest of their protected status, thus it is still illegal for them to be raised in captivity."

Harry was at a loss. This whole situation seemed ridiculous. These creatures weren't really going to lose their lives because of some stupid political technicalities were they? Was Zeus really going to let that happen to one of his sacred animals? Shouldn't he do something?

A crack of thunder made them all jump once again. Looking around for the source, Harry almost thought it had been Thalia who had done it seeing as how the dark clouds had long faded away now, but it was the surprised shout from one of the unnamed Aurors that showed him the truth of the matter. There were several specks on the horizon, and they were growing quickly larger. It didn't take long for the sound of their large wingbeats to be heard.

"It seems like our issue is now resolved," Thalia's voice oozed with smugness. "Right, Auror?"

Auror Smith's jaw was clenched, and he turned away without a word.

"It seems that Tyche decided to smile upon you both today," the head Auror said, a small knowing smile on his face before he too turned back to his duties. Harry looked at him in shock as the other Aurors quickly followed suit in getting back to work.

Standing beside his friend, Harry watched as several enormous eagle-like birds swooped around the rock outcropping, letting out several loud cries as they landed around the nest they had been protecting. They really were magnificent. Newt appeared from elsewhere a moment later, approaching one of the older looking birds, having some grey in his plumage, and after a moment was allowed to stroke his head. He thought he caught the famous magizoologist calling the thunderbird Frank, something that made him snort in amusement. It seemed to be such a normal name for a creature so incredible.

Glancing to his side, he caught the awed smile on Thalia's face as she observed the scene in front of her. If his hunch was correct, it seemed that Zeus had finally had at least done something right for once in his daughter's life. It didn't make anything from the past alright, but at least it had brought her this one moment of happiness… and in Harry's book, that wasn't too bad.


End file.
